Recently in defamation Category

A new investigative report from Consumerist.com shines a spotlight on the business practices of Cash4Gold, which bills itself as the "World's #1 Gold Buyer," and on the company's efforts to silence Internet criticism through litigation and financial incentives.

The report adds that the gold-buying company recently sued Consumerist.com by appending the consumer-focused website to existing lawsuits against two former employees. The employees, Michele Liberis and Vielka Nephew, are accused of defamation and disclosing confidential information about the company in public statements and in Liberis' post about Cash4Gold on a consumer-complaint site. That site, ComplaintsBoard.com, was also added to the suits.

The legal action against the Consumerist.com stems from its post last February titled "10 Confessions of a Cash4Gold Employee," which was part of the site's ongoing coverage of the company. The post was based on comments that Liberis, who formerly worked in C4G's customer service department, had submitted anonymously to ComplaintsBoard.com describing how Cash4Gold manages to pay customers a fraction of what their gold is worth.

In its advertising, the Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based company had promised "top dollar" to people who send in their valuables to be melted down. But in a test conducted with the help of its sister company, Consumer Reports, Consumerist.com found that Cash4Gold offered as little as 11% of the "melt value" of gold necklaces that were submitted for appraisal. "The results reinforce advice we've offered before," the Consumerist.com report says, "which is that consumers should not use these services because the payments they offer are too low. No matter how nice the person is who gives it to you, a bad deal is still a bad deal."

Led by co-executive editors Ben Popken and Meg Marco, the Consumerist.com investigation is the months-long culmination of reporting that includes interviews with former employees Liberis and Nephew, Cash4Gold customers, the Better Business Bureau, the local fire department and the US Postal Service.

"We follow-up on such challenges conscientiously," says Marc Perton, Executive Editor for Online Media at Consumers Union, "and so we immediately set out to learn whether the company's allegations had merit, both through our own research and through requests to Cash4Gold for more information." The company has declined to cooperate, though, and just this week canceled a scheduled interview with Cash4Gold CEO Jeff Aronson.

The investigation provided support to Consumerist.com's decision to publish the "10 Confessions" post in the first place, and also turned up evidence that supports Liberis' account of certain business practices and working conditions at the firm. But the Consumerist.com also found that Cash4Gold may have made improvements in the time since Liberis worked there last year. For example, Liberis said the firm was shut down temporarily for "health and code violations," a statement the company disputed. Fire department records show that the Cash4Gold location was indeed shut down after a number of violations last year, but that Cash4Gold has accumulated no new violations since moving to a different address earlier this year.

"We're proud of the work that Ben and Meg have done, and we only regret that their report could not include a response from Cash4Gold CEO Jeff Aronson beyond his earlier public comments," Perton said. "We also hope today's post will help lay to rest the idea that blogs don't do investigative reporting."

SOURCE Consumer Reports

Alain V. Bonavida is pleased to announce that his client, Joseph Fahs, has sought and received justice. Joseph Fahs was the first named defendant in a suit by his former employer, Georges Marciano, filed on August 13, 2007. Georges Marciano sued Mr. Fahs and four other employees alleging, among other things, fraud and conspiracy to deprive Mr. Marciano of over $400 million of money, art, wine, and other assets. The Court found that none of these employees committed the acts alleged by Mr. Marciano, dismissing Mr. Marciano's complaint against these individuals.

This firm is proud to have not only defended Mr. Fahs against Mr. Marciano's baseless lawsuit, but also to have represented Mr. Fahs in his suit against Mr. Marciano and Mr. Marciano's company, Beverly Wilshire Properties, Inc., for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

A liability trial was held in Los Angeles Superior Court on May 15 and May 18, 2009. Judge Elizabeth Allen White found that Marciano was liable for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress against each cross-complainant, and that he had committed those acts with the malice, oppression and/or fraud necessary to justify an award of punitive damages. Following the liability prove-up, Judge White set a jury trial for damages for July 20, 2009. After hearing hours of live testimony and reviewing dozens of exhibits, the jury found Marciano liable to each of the five cross-complainants for over $69 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, a total of over $74 million each. The combined value of the verdict is over $370 million.

Attorney Alain V. Bonavida made the opening statement for Joseph and was integral, along with the rest of the legal team, to the conduct and ultimate success of the trial. Bonavida made the closing argument for compensatory damages for Joseph Fahs, explaining to the jury that they now have the power to set things right - to compensate Joseph and the other cross-complainants for the damages inflicted upon them by the unremorseful Mr. Marciano.

During the trial, Mr. Marciano had an average of eight note takers and others occupying two rows of chairs in the courtroom. Mr. Marciano initially refused to appear at the trial as evidenced by his attorneys' refusal to accept a subpoena on his behalf. Marciano made a surprise appearance and voluntarily took the stand where he declared to the jury that he was on a "crusade" and would not stop until he had "justice." Asked by Mr. Bonavida if he remembered the every increasing amounts of alleged theft he suffered at the hands of Joseph and the others, he stated that if these amounts were in papers he submitted to the Court, then they were true.

Joseph Fahs' attorney, Alain V. Bonavida, explains that "when Joseph came to me for representation, I saw the fear in his face and heart and saw this as an opportunity to help someone with a kind soul. I understood the battle my client and I were in for, but I welcomed the challenge. Nearly two years later, justice was served when the jury found Mr. Marciano liable to each of five cross-complainants for over $69 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages for a total of over $74 million for each plaintiff or a total of over $370 million. This verdict should serve as a warning to those that believe having vast resources entitles one to leverage those resources to the detriment of the innocent. Truth and justice does prevail, even against incredible odds - you just have to fight hard for it and never give up. I never gave up."

"As one of, if not the, largest defamation verdicts handed down in the country, I am proud to have been the first attorney on the case and of the work I put into defending my client and pursuing my client's rights against Mr. Marciano. During my third year of law school, I was a student attorney representing those individuals who could not afford private counsel. I won, along with my co-counsel and friend, Jonathan Blank, a trial awarding full legal and physical custody of a small child to her mother as well as child support. I was hooked on fighting for the underdog from that point on," Bonavida said.

Law Offices of Alain V. Bonavida enjoyed working the Marciano case with the talented attorneys representing the other ex-employees of Mr. Marciano/Beverly Wilshire Properties, Inc. Steven Chapnick was represented by Michael Partos and Reeve J. Segal of Cozen O'Connor. Elizabeth Tagle was represented Cheryl Deptowicz-Diaz of the Diaz Law Firm. Miriam Choi and Camille Abat were represented by R. Rex Parris and Alexander R. Wheeler of the R. Rex Parris Law Firm and David Wheeler and Jennifer L. DeLoach of Wheeler and Sheehan.

SOURCE Law Offices of Alain V. Bonavida