Daycare suing parent for negative online review

SPRING HILL (FOX 13) - A daycare is suing a parent who they say posted an untrue, negative review online.

Daniel Dameron faces a lawsuit from his 2-year-old daughter's former daycare center, Mrs. B's Daycare, located on Spring Hill Drive.

Dameron said he was served just a few days after he posted his review of the daycare on several websites.

“You’re supposed to be able to write these reviews,” said Dameron, who claims his daughter was bitten several times by another child at the daycare.

He said he spoke to the daycare owner, but the issue was not addressed.

"All I got was a shrug of the shoulders and, 'If you don’t like it, that’s just the way kids are. You can take your daughter and go somewhere else,'" Dameron described of his encounter with the daycare owner.

Dameron posted his opinion of the daycare and how it handled the situation on several websites and social media.

“Well, that’s the reason social media is out there," said Gino Megna, Dameron's attorney. "It’s meant for people to go out there and explain what their experience is like.”

According to Megna, people have the right to post negative reviews as long as they are truthful, in which case they are considered an "affirmative defense against defamation."

Dameron said he plans to fight the lawsuit and has no regrets about his online review.

“It is my responsibility as a consumer to rate and review other businesses, good or bad, and I write good reviews all day long," he said. "It just so happens this one was a very bad one.”

The lawsuit demands up to $15,000 in damages the daycare may have incurred as a result of the negative review.