Doctor John Doe et al v. Google Inc

Filing 1

NOTICE of Removal from Circuit Court of Cook County, case number (2011 L 9024) filed by Google Inc Filing fee $ 350, receipt number 0752-6535723. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A)(Lambert, Jade)

EXHIBIT A

2120 - Served
2229~~_N9tServed

2320 - Served By Mail
242Q - Served By Publication
. SUMMONS

2121 - Served
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2221 - Not Served ~ ...:<-.,
2321 - Served By Mail
2421 - Served By Publication
ALIAS- SUMMONS

(2128/11.) CCG NOOI

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS
COUNTY DEPARTMENT, -=LA:..;.;W~_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ DlVISION

DOCTOR JOHN DOE, DOCTOR JOHN DOE,
INCORPORATED, an Illinois Corporation, and
JANE DOE,' Individually and as an Employee of
the Other Plaintiffs,

No. 2011 L 9024

GOOGLE, INC.
do Illinois Corporation Service,
Re' ed

(Name all parties)
v.

~LE, INy Delaware Corporation

®SUMMONS OALIAS SUMMONS
To each Defendaift:
YOU ARE SU.MMONEDand required to file an a~swer to the complaint in this cas~, a copy or-whiCh is'
heretoattacbed, or otherwise file your appearance, and pay the required fee, in the Office of the Clerk of this CO'u'rt at the
following location:
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.
.·0··Ij.ii:h·ard.J.. Dal~Y -Certefl: 50 W.. Washington,.Room..ttOJ - -,-

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District 2 - Sk6kic'
5600 Oid''OiCit'a·~dRd'.
Skokie, Ii... 60917

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District 5 ~ Bridgeview.
10220 S.76th Ave.
Bridgeview,.IL.60455

-: '. _. - ,Chicago, .IIIin~is~60602 ..... ~ .....:

.. :' O' . District 3 - Rollhi.g Meadows
2121 Euclid
Rolling Mt!adows, IL 60008

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D'istrict 6 ~ Markham
16501 S. Kedzie Pkwy.
Markham, IL 60428

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District 4 - Maywood.
1500 Maybrook.Ave.
Maywood,IL 60153
Child Support
28 North Clark St., Room 200
Chicago, ~lIinois 60602 '.

You must file witiliii 30 days 'a:ttc'r s~rvice of this Summons, not'counting the day of seryice.
.
IF YOU FAIL TO PO SO, A 'JUDGMENT BY DEFAULT MAY BE ENTERED AGAINST YOU FOR
REQUESTED IN T:a.~ GO.MPLAlN,T..

.

TID: RELIEF

To the officer:
This Summons must be returned by the officer or other person to whom it was given for service, with endorsement
of service and fees, if any, immediately after service. Ifservice cannot be made, this Summons shall be retu.rned so endorsed.
This Summons may not be served later than 30.days after its date.
Atty. No.:_2_4_57_8 _-,--_ _
_

WITNESS, _ _ _S_E_'P_2_'_i2_0~1!---,--_

'Name: David A. Novoselsky/Novoselsky Law Offices.
Atty. for: Plaintiffs
Address: 120 North LaSalle Street, Suite 1400
City/StatelZip: Chicago, IL 60602
Telephone: [phone]
Service by Facsimile Transmission will be accepted at: -----.~;;c~)jF;;;I.;;n;;r;i\~~Wl;:t.U-ff---­
. (Area Code)

(Facsimile Tel

DOROTHY BROWN, CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK CO

.

·

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS
COUNTY DEPARTMENT, LAW DIVISION
DOCTOR JOHN DOE, DOCTOR JOHN DOE,
INCORPORATED, an Illinois Corporation, and
JANE DOE, Individually and as an Employee of
the Other Plaintiffs,
Plaintiffs,

v.
GOOGLE, INC., a Delaware Corporation,
Defendant.

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) JURY DEM2\;lNtPILO()9024
CALENDAR/ROOM X
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Libel/Slander)

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COMPLAINT AT LAW
PARTIES
1.

DR. JOHN DOE is a physician licensed to practice law within the State of Illinois

by the Department of Professional Registration of the State of Illinois. ("DR. DOE").'
2.

DR. JOHN DOE INCORPORATED ("DR. DOE, INC.") is an Illinois Limited

Liability Corporation.
3.

JANE DOE is a licensed medical professional in the employment of the other

Plaintiffs, also licensed by the appropriate regulatory authorities in the State of Illinois.

4.

Defendant GOOGLE, INC., ("GOOGLE") is a Corporation which.is incorporated

in the State of Delaware, has its principal place of business in the State of California, and is
licensed to and does business within the State of Illinois.

FACTS COMMON TO ALL COUNTS
5.

Plaintiffs, DR. DOE and JANE DOE, are duly-licensed medical professionals who

practice their business within the State of Illinois. Plaintiff DR. DOE, INC. is licensed to do
business in and has its principal place of business within the State of Illinois .
. 00050308.WPD; v. I

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6.

In the course of performing their professional duties, Plaintiffs care for patients

at their facility , located within the State of Illinois .. At that facility, they provide medical
,
treatment, surgery, the application of properly-licensed and properly-applied drugs and other
medications, and otherwise have for a long period of time provided professional and effective
medical care to the citizens of the State of Illinois and others States.
7.

Over the last ten years, Defendant GOOGLE has developed a series of programs

and sites which it distributes through an electronic medium available to the public known as the
"Internet". In providing those services, Defendant GOOGLE has developed a site or series of
sites which include supposed "ratings" of various businesses and professionals where consumers
are encouraged to inquire electronically .
from sites located within the State of Illinois to 'evaluate
.
.
,
and determine whether to do business with various individuals and entities located within the
State of Illinois, including but not limited to the Plaintiffs in this case.
8.

In addition to the above, Defendant GOOGLE maintains a series of sites known

as "blogs" and other similar sites which provide what purport to be accurate reports of
experiences of various consumers and other members of the public with various individuals
located within the State of Illinois including but not limited to the Plaintiffs.
9.

. Neither this rating site nor the so-called "blogs" and other reports are monitored

by Defendant GOOGLE for accuracy or monitored ~o determine whether these sites are being
used to libel or otherwise intentionally denigrate both the person and professional qualifications
or services of individuals and entities located within the State of Illinois including but not limited
to these Plaintiffs.

00050308,WPD; v, 1

Page 2 of 10

10.

Indeed, on various occasions through and including the Spring of 2011, Plaintiff

DR. DOE repeatedly attempted to bring to the attention of Defendant GOOGLE that the
GOOGLE sites were being used to libel Plaintiffs by the publication of false statements directed
against Plaintiff DR. DOE, Plaintiff DR. DOE, INC. as well as his associate and employee,
JANE DOE. Examples of these false statements were provided to Defendant GOOGLE by
Plaintiff DR. DOE and requests were made a.sking GOOGLE to cease and desist.
11.

Defendant GOOGLE refused to heed the requests made to stop the publication and

republication of various libels against Plaintiffs being posted at and distributed by Defendant
GOOGLE despite the requests made to cease and desist.
12.

The libelous statements are contained in the sealed Appendix being submitted

under separate cover to this Court along with a copy being served upon Defendant GOOGLE.
The appendix, incorporated herein by reference contains statements which are libelous and
which were all printed, reprinted and distributed by Defendant GOOGLE as referred to above.
Included, as representative examples only, are the following general matters:
•

That a supposed patient stated on April 22, 2011 that she had injectable
fillers done to her by DefendantJANE DOE at Plaintiffs' facility resulting
in facial lumps which would require multiple surgeries to correct. This
statement, when made, was neither true nor believed to be true by the
person posting this libel at Defendant'S sites. In addition, this same poster
insisted that Plaintiff JANE DOE was posting at Defendant'S site what
were referred to as "fake" postings praising herself and the other Plaintiffs
as self-generated favorable publicity. Defendant had more than ample
opportunity to investigate and remove these statements but refused to do

so.
•

00050308.WPD; v. 1

Defendant posted statements purportedly made by Plaintiff DR. DOE's
patient regarding surgical procedures and results which were not true,
were known not to be true at the time the statements were made, and
which Defendant GOOGLE was offered repeated opportunities to remove
Page 3 of 10

from their site once the libelous and false nature of these statements were
made known to Defendant GOOGLE.
•

Defendant GOOGLE has posted and continues to post not only at its rating
site but also at the supposed "blogs" repeated statements made by
individuals who falsely claim to have been patients and/or to have been
treated ~mproperly by Plaintiffs when those s.tatements are not true and
have been shown not to be true to Defendant GOOGLE.
Defendant GOOGLE, although it knows or should know of the potential
adverse impact to Plaintiffs and others similarly situated of false
statements placed at its so-called "review sites" and/or its "blogs",
provides no method to those libeled and falsely accused at their sites to
effectively challenge those statements or to obtain a retraction or any form
of "filter" which will prevent further and repeated libels by malicious
individuals who make use of Defendant's sites for the publication of these
lies. As a result, Defendant GOOGLE has declined to accept any
responsibility for or effective means of moderating or eliminating its
libelous publications, insisting instead that these libels shall be freely
encouraged and made available to its users and advertisers.
Defendant GOOGLE is not an eleemosynary institution. Instead, it is a
commercial and highly profitable publicly-traded company which realizes
its considerable profits by widespread publication of statements at its
various sites. As such, it has an obligation under the law to avoid
publishing or republishing false statements and libels, but declines to
fulfill that obligation in its continued effort to increase its profits while
ignoring the converse of those profits, the responsibility for the harm
caused to Plaintiffs and others similarly situated by this widespread and
very effective libel.

COUNT I
LIBELPERSE
13.

Plaintiffs hereby incorporate and reallege all of the foregoing allegations in

paragraphs 1 through 12 of this' Complaint Law.
14.

Libel Per Se has been described as a "unique category of defamation." (Singston

v. Ridge Country Club, 35 F.3d 568 (7th Circuit, 1994).) It has been limited to certain types of
00050308.WPD; v. 1

Page 4 of 10

statements which are "so harmful that damages must be presumed" which include but are not
limited to claims that a professional such as a doctor, attorney, accountant, or licensed nurse has
performed improperly in their practice or has been so wanting in skill or care that patients have
suffered as a result. (See Chapsky v. Kopley Press,. 92 Ill.2d 344 (1982).)
15.

To have committed the ton of Libel Per Se a Defendant must have made a

statement or republished a statement in written form which accuses the Plaintiff of having
deviated from the appropriate professional standard of are in having done so with a want of skill
or with neglect thereby causing damage to the client or patient of the professional.
16.

As set forth in the preceding paragraphs of this Complaint, Defendant, through its

electronic sites, published numerous statements attacking the integrity and skill of Plaintiffs,
stating that care was offered to and procedures were performed upon various members of the
public who hired Plaintiffs to perform services which were done without the requisite level of

charges excessive fees as a result of this want of care or skill.
17.

At the time these statements were published by Defendant, Defendant knew or was

indifferent to the fact that these statements were false and were being published with. malicious
intent by the various anonymous or falsely-identified posters who utilize Defendant's services
to publish and then spread these libels against Plaintiffs.
18.

Although Libel Per Se assumes damages, Plaintiffs have in fact suffered damages

as a result of these libelous statements, having lost income as a result and having suffered
embarrassment, emotional distress, and have sustained a general loss of reputation in their
business and personal life as a result of this libelous conduct.
00050308.WPD; v. 1

Page 5 of 10

· 19.

As a result of the foregoing, Defendant is guilty of the tort of Libel Per Se and is

obliged to compensate Plaintiffs for the injuries sustained by this conduct as set forth infra.
WHEREFORE, it is respectfully requested that this Honorable Court enter judgment in
favor of Plaintiffs DOCTOR JOHN DOE, DOCTOR JOHN DOE, INCORPORATED and JANE
DOE, and against Defendant GOOGLE, INC. in an amount of compensatory damages in excess
of the minimum jurisdictional amount necessary to bring a cause of action before the Law
Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Plaintiffs further seek exemplary Or punitive
damages in an amount in excess of $50 million along with the. appropriate attorneys' fees and
costs assessed this Defendant for its tortious conduct.

COUNT II
FALSE LIGHT
20.

Plaintiffs hereby incorporate and reallege all of the foregoing allegations in

paragraphs 1 through 19 of this Complaint Law.
21.

As set forth in the preceding paragraphs of this Complaint, including those in

Count I, Defendant GOOGLE was aware that the false statements made regarding Pl?int~ffs were
false and were known to be false by those who ~ere utilizing Defendants' sites to publish and
spread their libelous statements. After Plaintiffs' brought this to the attention of Defendant
GOOGLE, Defendant declined to take any steps to remove or even moderate these libelous
statements.
22.

. The statements. made attacking Plaintiffs in their professional and personal

capacity were such that are and would be expected to be highly offensive to a reasonable person.

00050308.WPD; v. I

Page 6 of 10

23.

Defendant GOOGLE, as it was aware of the false and libelous nature of these

statements, acted with actual malice when it refused to take ahy steps to stop or even moderate
the repetitious libel referred to above, therefore acting with reckless disregard for whether the
statements in question were true or false and' further failing to take any steps to either investigate
or control the ongoing libel.

24.

As a result of the foregoing, Defendant GOOGLE is guilty of the tort of False

25.

As a result of its tortious conduct, Plaintiffs have suffered damages as a result of

Light.

these libelous statements, having lost income as a result and having suffered embarrassment, .
emotional distress, and have sustained a general loss of reputation in their business and personal
life as a result of this libelous conduct.
WHEREFORE, it is respectfully requested that this Honorable Court enter judgment in
favor of_ _ _ _ _ . ___ JOHN DOE, DOCTOR JOHN .. ":'---- ..... ------ .• ---- .... -----Plaintiffs DOCTOR •... ___ . __ •• -----.--.-- DOE, INCORPORATED and JANE
.
_r~

DOE, and against Defendant GOOGLE, INC. in an amount of compensatory damages in excess
of the minimum jurisdictional amount necessary to bring a cause of action before the Law
Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Plaintiffs further seek exemplary or punitive
damages in an amount in excess of $50 million along with the appropriate attorneys' fees and.
costs assessed this Defendant for its tortious conduct.

COUNT III
TORTIOUS INTERFERENCE WITH CONTRACTUAL RELATIONS
26.

Plaintiffs hereby incorporate and reallege all of the foregOing allegations in

paragraphs 1 through 25 of this Complaint Law.
00050308.WPD; v. 1

Page 7 of 10

27.

Under Illinois law, a person's business relationships constitutes a property interest

and as such is entitled to protection from unjustified tampering by another.
28.

Plaintiffs had a valid and enforceable contractual relationshi p between themselves

and their patients which Defendant GOOGLE was aware of and was obliged to respect.
29.

Despite this relationship and further despite Defenda nt's awareness of the

existence of the contractual relationship between medical professionals and their patients,
Defendant, by publishing and republishing libelous and false statements regarding the improper
and unprofessional treatment of patients by Plaintiffs, engaged in the intentional and unjustified
inducement intended to cause existing patients to breach and sever their contractual relationships
with Plaintiffs.
30.

As a result of the libelous statements set forth in the preceding sections of this

Complaint, and as.a direct and proximate result of these false statements, Plaintiffs suffered a
loss of a contractual relationship with existing patients, who read and were expected to believe
the libelous statements when published by Defendant.
31.

As a consequence of this conduct, which constitutes the tort of interference with'

contractual relationships, Plaintiffs were damaged through loss of income and reputation by the
publication of the false and libelous statements by Defendants.
WHEREFORE, it is respectfully requested that this Honorable Court enter judgment in
favor of Plaintiffs DOCTOR JOHN DOE, DOCTOR JOHN DOE, INCORPORATED and JANE
DOE, and against Defendant GO OGLE, INC. in an amount of compensatory damages in excess
of the minimum jurisdictional amount necessary to bring a cause of action before the Law
Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Plaintiffs further seek exemplary or punitive
00050308.WPD; v. 1

Page 8 of 10

.
.,
damages in an amount in excess of $50 million along with the appropriate attorneys' fees and
costs·assessed this Defendant for its tortious conduct.
COUNT IV
TORTIOUS INTERFERENCE WITH PROSPECTIVE ADVANTAGE
AND BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS
32.

Plaintiffs hereby incorporate and reallege all of the foregoing allegations in

paragraphs 1 through 31 of this Complaint Law.
33.

Plaintiffs had a reasonable expectancy of entering into valid business·relationships

with new patients based on their outstanding

~nd

long-existing reputation in the community as

well as in the medical profession within the State of Illinois.
Defendant was aware of this expectancy when it took the step of creating the so-

34.

called re:view sites, encouraging members of the public for Defendant's profit to review and
utilize statements made at those sites as well as at its so-called "blogs" to evaluation whether to
enter into a prospective relationship with Plaintiffs and others similarly situated.
35.

Defendant, despite this knowledge, published and recklessly permitted the

continuati9n of the publication of the ·false and libelous statements descr.ibed earlier in this
Complaint, knowing that the publication and distribution of these false statements would
interfere with and defeat Plaintiffs' legitimate expectancy of entering into valid business
relationships with new patients.
36. .

As a result of the conduct described above, Defendant GOOGLE committed the

tort of interference with prospective business advahtage or expectancy, causing a substantial loss
in business and reputation to be sustained by Plaintiffs.
0005030B.WPD;

v. 1

Page 9 of 10

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WHEREFORE, it is respectfully requested that this Honorable Court enter judgment in
favor of Plaintiffs DOCTOR JOHN DOE, DOCTOR JOHN DOE, INCORPORATED and JANE
DOE, and against Defendant GOOGLE, INC. in an amount of compensatory damages in excess
of the minimum jurisdictional amount necessary to bring a .cause of action before the Law
.
.
Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Plaintiffs further seek exemplary or punitive
damages in an amount in excess of $50 million along with the appropriate attorneys' fees and
costs assessed this Defendant for its tortious conduct:
Respectfully submitted,

NOVO'SELSKY LAW OFFICES

David A. Novoselsky
Novoselsky Law Offices
120 North LaSalle Street, Suite 1400 .
Chicago, IL 60602
[phone]
Attorney No. 24578

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