In “The Dirty Lawsuit Could be First of its Kind in Reputation Management,” SEW explained how the website The Dirty (thedirty.com) was being sued by Sarah Jones for posting false content that she claimed damaged her reputation. The content was sent in by a third party and posted by the owner of the website (Nik Richie).

The case has importance to the reputation management industry because it was the first time a judge had not accepted the Communication Decency Act (CDA) as a defense. The CDA protects sites, such as forums that accept user-generated content, from liability.

The case went through deadlock back in January 2013, and recently resurfaced on July 8. Late last week, the jury deliberated and found The Dirty to be liable for damages. They awarded $388,000 in damages to Jones.

Richie’s lawyers had asked the court to reconsider the CDA as a defense. They requested an immediate appeal, rather than defending the case a second time, but both were denied.

See the full story here.