The National Trial Lawyers
  • Home
    • Meet Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Mission & Goals
    • FAQ
  • Webinars
  • News
  • Membership Directory
    • Top 100 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 100 Map – Criminal Defense
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Criminal Defense
  • Top 100
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 100 President’s Message
    • Diplomat
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 100 Badge
    • Media
  • Top 40
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Bootcamp
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 40 President’s Message
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 40 Badge
    • Media
  • Specialty Assoc
    • About
    • Shop
    • Officers
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Media
  • Nominate
    • Top 100
    • Top 40
    • Specialty Association
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer of the Year
    • Trial Team of the Year
    • America’s Most Influential Trial Lawyer
    • America’s Most Influential Law Firm
    • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Shop
  • Magazine
    • A-List
  • Education and Networking Agenda
    • Trial Lawyers Summit
      • Summit Sponsors
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Boot Camp
    • Mass Torts Made Perfect
    • The Lanier Master Class 5.0 Trial Academy 2021
    • Webinars
  • Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame

Personal Injury Claims Against Website Not Barred by Communications Act

Posted on October 20, 2014 by Larry Bodine
litigation

The Communications Decency Act does not bar a website user’s negligent failure to warn lawsuit.

The Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded Doe v. Internet Brands, Inc., confirming that internet service providers should not receive general immunity for failing to warn users about online predators — which caused a woman to be raped.

In this case Doe, an aspiring model, posted information on the model networking website Model Mayhem to generate leads for auditions. Doe was lured to a fake audition by rapist, who drugged her, raped her and recorded her for a pornographic video.

Doe filed a negligence action against the website owner Internet Brands for failure to warn of the danger. The case is a positive result for plaintiffs, concluding that claims against website operators are not barred by the Communications Decency Act. 47 U.S.C. § 230.

Failed to notify users

Internet Brands, the web owner and operator of Model Mayhem, was aware of the site’s use as a portal to commit dangerous activities prior to purchasing the website, but it failed to notify its members. In the past, courts have barred plaintiffs’ claims, holding that websites are liable only if the member and operator share a special relationship under California law or the operator acted as publisher or speaker of third party content. See Cal. Civ. Code § 43.92; 47 U.S.C. § 230(c)(1).

Internet Brands argued that it was not a “publisher” under the CDA, and thus was not liable. Unpersuaded, the Ninth Circuit said, “The CDA does not bar Jane Doe’s failure to warn claim… We hold only that the CDA is not a valid basis to dismiss Jane Doe’s complaint.”

Supporting this view, the court looked to Stratton Oakmont v. Prodigy Servs., where an operator acted as publisher by removing message board material, an area where members frequently post information. This was not the case in Doe.

Additionally, the court discussed Internet Brands acting as an intermediary between Jane Doe and the rapist. Although the website in some way acted as an intermediary, that did not immunize Internet Brands a publisher or speaker of content.

Without additional factors such as a special employee-employer relationship or mishandling of third party content, a proprietor of website is not immune from liability. This decision provides plaintiffs’ in the same or similar position the opportunity to move cases forward.

The plaintiff was represented by Jeffrey Herman and Stuart S. Mermelstein of Herman Law in Boca Raton.

This case is Jane Doe No. 14 v. Internet Brands, Inc., No. 12-56638 (9th Cir. Sept, 30, 2014) 

Posted in Blog, Personal Injury

Comments are closed.

Recent Posts

Toyota Will Pay $180M to Settle Violations of the Clean-Air Act

Toyota Will Pay $180M to Settle Violations of the Clean-Air Act

January 15th, 2021

The U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that the United States has[Read More...]
Boeing's Insitu Will Pay $25M to Settle a Whistleblower Complaint About Used Drone Parts

Boeing's Insitu Will Pay $25M to Settle a Whistleblower Complaint About Used Drone Parts

January 13th, 2021

Bingen, Wash.-based Insitu, a Boeing subsidiary, has agreed to pay $25 million to settle allegations that it used recycl[Read More...]
Deutsche Bank Agrees to Settle Criminal and Civil Charges for $130M

Deutsche Bank Agrees to Settle Criminal and Civil Charges for $130M

January 11th, 2021

DEUTSCHE Bank AG agreed to pay US$130 million to settle criminal and civil charges that it bribed foreign officials and manip[Read More...]
Boeing Pays $2.5B to Settle Charges Tied to the 737 MAX Crashes

Boeing Pays $2.5B to Settle Charges Tied to the 737 MAX Crashes

January 8th, 2021

Boeing has agreed to pay just over $2.5 billion to resolve a federal charge of “criminal misconduct” for how its [Read More...]
Texas Attorney General Seeks $43M in Google Antitrust Lawsuit

Texas Attorney General Seeks $43M in Google Antitrust Lawsuit

January 6th, 2021

The mass exodus of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's top staff over accusations of bribery against their former boss has le[Read More...]

Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

Attorney information and content provided on this website is provided for the benefit of members of The National Trial Lawyers and as a public service by Legal Associations Management, Inc. The website and all data are the property of Legal Associations Management, Inc. Data, including without limitation attorney information and content, on the site may not be mined, sold, or used commercially for any purpose without the explicit written consent of Legal Associations Management, Inc. This site may not be accessed by any automated program for extracting data for any use. By accessing and using the site you agree that you will not develop, support or use software, devices, scripts, robots, or any other means or processes (including crawlers, browser plug-ins and add-ons, or any other technology) to scrape data or otherwise copy profiles and other data. Unauthorized use or attempted unauthorized use of this system may subject you to both civil and criminal penalties.