Teacher review site under fire by profs
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"They don't have a case," said Stephen Barnett, professor of law at the University of California at Berkeley. "What they seem to be complaining about seems to be largely statements of opinion -- not fact."
The comments came in the wake of a claim filed by teachers at the City College of San Francisco alleging that the Web site -- TeacherReview.com -- defamed them.
TeacherReview.com allows students, and anyone else, to get online and write in comments about 361 of the professors that teach at the City College. At issue: the more than 15 percent of the reviews that gave the teachers a grade of "Incompetent."
Although TeacherReview is not operated by the college, there is a link to the site on the City College site.
Bad grades for teachers
Worse than the grades for the teachers are the comments attached by the school's students.
One teacher was called "evil," while another was accused of being "perverted" and of harassing women. "He should be locked up," wrote one student, a 22-year-old woman.
The creator of TeacherReview.com is Ryan Lathouwers, a biology and computer sciences major at City College. While not immediately available for comment, Lathouwers defended the site in a article appearing in the school's newspaper, the Guardsman.
"I started Teacher Review because I was dissatisfied with the teachers at City College. There had to be away to find about teachers," he said in the report.
A disclaimer on the site states that the contents are unedited, but libelous and objectionable material will be removed.
Known territory
Most likely, any suit would be treated the same as previous libel claims against online providers America Online Inc. and CompuServe Interactive Services Inc., legal experts said.
Under those precedents, "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider."
The judicial precedent has absolved America Online in the recent slander case involving Matt Drudge and should protect both City College and Lathouwers, said Barnett.
The claim accuses City College of condoning the site and believes, therefore, it should be responsible for the site. That will almost certainly be thrown out, said Barnett. "Merely providing the linkage would not make the person providing it liable for any defamation," he said.
Yet, the question of who is responsible if such material is libelous could be answered.
"If a student anonymously accuses a teacher of harassment or another conduct, and you cannot identify the person who posted the message, what happens?" he asked.
A claim brought against a Web site that reviews teachers has little chance of success if escalated to a lawsuit, said a law professor on Friday.
"They don't have a case," said Stephen Barnett, professor of law at the University of California at Berkeley. "What they seem to be complaining about seems to be largely statements of opinion -- not fact."
The comments came in the wake of a claim filed by teachers at the City College of San Francisco alleging that the Web site -- TeacherReview.com -- defamed them.
TeacherReview.com allows students, and anyone else, to get online and write in comments about 361 of the professors that teach at the City College. At issue: the more than 15 percent of the reviews that gave the teachers a grade of "Incompetent."
Although TeacherReview is not operated by the college, there is a link to the site on the City College site.
Bad grades for teachers
Worse than the grades for the teachers are the comments attached by the school's students.
One teacher was called "evil," while another was accused of being "perverted" and of harassing women. "He should be locked up," wrote one student, a 22-year-old woman.
The creator of TeacherReview.com is Ryan Lathouwers, a biology and computer sciences major at City College. While not immediately available for comment, Lathouwers defended the site in a article appearing in the school's newspaper, the Guardsman.
"I started Teacher Review because I was dissatisfied with the teachers at City College. There had to be away to find about teachers," he said in the report.
A disclaimer on the site states that the contents are unedited, but libelous and objectionable material will be removed.
Known territory
Most likely, any suit would be treated the same as previous libel claims against online providers America Online Inc. and CompuServe Interactive Services Inc., legal experts said.
Under those precedents, "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider."
The judicial precedent has absolved America Online in the recent slander case involving Matt Drudge and should protect both City College and Lathouwers, said Barnett.
The claim accuses City College of condoning the site and believes, therefore, it should be responsible for the site. That will almost certainly be thrown out, said Barnett. "Merely providing the linkage would not make the person providing it liable for any defamation," he said.
Yet, the question of who is responsible if such material is libelous could be answered.
"If a student anonymously accuses a teacher of harassment or another conduct, and you cannot identify the person who posted the message, what happens?" he asked.
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