BOSTON -- If you didn't like the way a car dealer treated you and you created a Web site to tell everyone about it comma are you exercising you right to free speech or are you guilty of slander?
NewsCenter 5's Jim Boyd reported Tuesday that's what Shannon Sylvia did after her experience with Village Saab in Acton, Mass.
"I was very concerned. I have every right in this country to say how I feel as long as it is the truth," Sylvia said.
After having a dispute with the car dealer about payoff costs on a leased car, the Leominster, Mass., Web site designer put up a site to tell her side of the story. The dealership fought back and hit her with a $150,000 lawsuit and went to court to try to shut down the site.
Sylvia filed a countersuit, but both parties settled out of court. Sylvia was allowed to keep the Web site up and running.
"I am a strong believer of freedom of speech. There are people out there fighting a war right now to protect our rights in this country. I have every right to tell people what happened to me," Sylvia said.
"This is the result that we were looking for. The trial was for her to send the messa ge that people are allowed to have gripes and express those gripes on the Internet as well as anywhere else," Sylvia's attorney Stephen Melzer said.
The attorney for Village Saab only said that the case was dismissed and refused to comment.
Sylvia said that she is trying to sell the leased car that she is driving. She said that she lost about $10,000 in legal fees and in payments that she made to the lease company.
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Jim Boyd Reports On Lawsuit
