California Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Yelp Review Suit

The California Supreme Court has agreed to consider a lawsuit that Yelp.com warns could lead to the removal of negative reviews on the popular site.

The court agreed last week to take up an appeal by Yelp of a lower court ruling. The company is asking the state Supreme Court to overturn a court order requiring it to remove posts against a San Francisco law firm.

Yelp says that if the ruling is allowed to stand, it will open the door for businesses to force the company to remove critical reviews.

Dawn Hassell, the law firm’s managing attorney, says the business review website is exaggerating the stakes of her legal effort. She says it aims only to remove from Yelp lies by a former client that a judge determined were defamatory, not just negative.