What’s good for business is good for…
Maybe it’s just me, but more and more it seems government serves to protect the interests of businesses from being interfered with, lawfully or not. Just recently, Balous Miller filed a lawsuit against those in Helotes who prevented Walmart from building. Now we have builders that sue because someone complains publicly.
An unusually public legal dispute between a high-end San Antonio builder and two of its clients, an Army colonel and his wife, ended Wednesday afternoon when the two sides reached a private settlement. The Sitterle Corp. and homeowners Jay and Joy Hirata had been at odds for two years over the Hirata’s home in Emerald Forest, an upscale gated community on the North Side, where homes range from the $300,000s to the $400,000s.
The Hiratas sued the builder over problems with a leaky basement in their hillside home.
In August, Jay Hirata posted complaints about Sitterle on the discussion board of a San Antonio-based consumer advocacy group’s Web site, Home Owners for Better Building. Sitterle fired back with a libel lawsuit.
Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Collin County News:
A San Antonio builder filed a lawsuit earlier this month against a homeowner for posting complaints on the Web site of HomeOwners for Better Building, a consumer group.The lawsuit alleges that owner Jay Hirata owes Sitterle Corp. $500,000 in damages for “misrepresentations of fact” that hurt the company’s reputation. It states that Sitterle Corp. fixed the problems in the Hiratas’ home, but the Web posting stated the company was “unwilling to remedy the situation.”
As a result, Mr. Hirata canceled plans to speak before the San Antonio City Council and called off a news conference. “Does this action … send a message of fear to every new homebuyer that they, too, could be subjected to the wrath of a builder if they file a complaint?” said Janet Ahmad, president of HomeOwners for Better Building.
The builder’s attorney, William H. Oliver, said that the TRCC and court information is public record but that “there’s a difference between saying things in court testimony and administrative proceeding, and putting them out there in the street in a publication.”
What does this mean? Free speech is fine as long as it doesn’t affect business? Isn’t one of the tenets of the free market system that information about bad products will be shared so that consumers can make informed choices? According to Sitterle’s attorney, it’s okay for individuals to look up the information but not to talk about it. So if local newspapers start listing complaints filed with the Texas Residential Construction Commission, can they be sued for libel?
Probably not. Newspapers have insurance for that kind of thing, individuals don’t. Think about what that means. A builder, or any wealthy business for that matter, can essentially stifle free speech by forcing an individual to go to court. Thanks to “tort reform” that protects us from frivolous lawsuit abuse, individuals will have to be able to afford lawyer fees themselves. What would you do if faced with years of litigation and attorney costs for standing up for your rights to free speech.
Some would argue that the creation of the TRCC is an indication that not everything goes in favor of business.
Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Collin County News:
Commission executive director Duane Waddill said he hopes that if builders know disputes are public record – and easily found on the Web – the builders will make repairs rather than risk their reputations.
“If I’m a builder, do I really want up there, in public record, that I had a defect found in my house?” he said.
But what good is the information if you’re not allowed to share with others using what is supposed to be Constitutionally protected free speech?
Filed under: Balous Miller, Duane Waddill, Emerald Forest, Free Speech, Frivolous Lawsuit, Helotes, Home Owners for Better Building, Jay Hirata, Lawsuit Reform, Lawsuit abuse, San Antonio, Sitterle Corp, TRCC, Texas Residential Construction Commission, William Oliver, libel, scare tactics, texas
