GDHM is currently representing the online jobs and recruiting site, Glassdoor, in a petition to the Texas Supreme Court. Glassdoor is asking the Court to reverse a ruling allowing an online retailer to learn the identities of two Glassdoor users who posted negative reviews of the company’s employment practices. The retailer filed a Rule 202 petition asking a Dallas court to force Glassdoor to disclose personal information about the authors of ten negative reviews; Glassdoor and two of its users responded with an anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss. The Dallas court denied the retailer relief as to eight of the reviewers, but granted discovery on two. Glassdoor is asking the Texas Supreme Court to reverse the Dallas court’s ruling and grant sanctions and fees under the Texas Citizens Participation Act, Texas’ anti-SLAPP law. The Court has requested merits briefing and is in the process of deciding whether to take the case.
On March 30, 2018, a coalition of technology companies, led by Twitter and Yelp, filed an amicus brief asking the high court to grant review of Glassdoor’s petition, based on the important First Amendment rights at stake.
Read Law360’s article about the amicus brief here. The parties’ briefs in Glassdoor, Inc., Doe 1 and Doe 2 v. Andra Group, LP, No. 17-0463, can be found here.
Pete Kennedy and Jim Hemphill represent Glassdoor.
See update here.