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Can you sue the BBB for lack of due process and damages for revealing confidential data about your business to the public?
Anonymous7 views6 answers
The BBB recently changes it's business practices to allow the public to see confidential information about our business. This is problematic as we are in health-care filed and the public may not understand the nuances of the patient explaining all the details of what we did for her.
Furthermore our agreement states that it take 30 days to issue refund once we are contacted, the patient never contacted us or gave us notice, she simply went to them and filled a complaint.
The subject line does not reflect anything relevant to her specific complaint but stated information that is defamatory and false. yet it is still there.
To make issues worse, the patient states that we contacted her and it was handled to her satisfaction and she would like to withdraw the complaint but they won't remove.
BBB is a for-profit business and its actions and practices are not by law confidential, nor is any information that is disclosed to BBB unless there is written contractual agreement between the business and the party supplying the info. Even then, in a subsequent legal dispute, it is unlikely that any court will honor any claim of confidentiality for matter disclosed to BBB. The BBB business may change its practices and policies at any time for any reason. This entity has been subject for years to a wide-spread myth among consumers that it has some official or governmental powers or charter. It does not.
http://www.inc.com/samuel-wagreich/los-angeles-...
http://business.time.com/2013/03/19/why-the-bet...
It depends what you are calling "confidential". What information are you averring is "confidential"? It does not matter legally if you consider it private or confidential, what has legal relevance is if it is information in which the law says you have a legal expectation of privacy in.
Your inquiry does not have enough information to answer your question, specifically, can a BBB release company confidetial information to the public. As other attorneys have pointed out, what constitutes confidential information is a fact-based question. In order to have it answered you need to consult with a business attorney. Fundamentally, even if the information used to be confidential before it was made public, the question is why did you share that information with a BBB to begin with and under what conditions. Was there any writing between you and BBB regarding confidentiality? An attorney can help you navigate through these questions and help you understand your proprietary rights, if any, in the information you provide to a BBB, or make sure you are not in this situation again if you can help it.
This is more complex than you may realize. confidential is a legal concept. What you consider confidential may not satisfy the legal definition and so what shows up may not be a violation. You should consult with a local lawyer to discuss this issue. Use find a lawyer feature to locate one.
Christian K. Lassen IIPersonal Injury LawyerPhiladelphia, PA ·
Unlikely, but more facts are needed so have a local lawyer investigate. has a great "find a lawyer" tool to locate a top-rated attorney with a low contingency fee.
