Dallas newlyweds Andrew and Neely Moldovan claim that their wedding photographer is holding their pictures hostage unless they pay an extra fee for a “cover” for their photo album – even though they already paid for the book itself.
A North Texas wedding photographer has been awarded a $1.08 million defamation verdict against a married couple whom the jury found posted false statements in a social media campaign after being unhappy about a surprise fee.
A Dallas County jury found Friday that social media posts made by Neely and Andrew Moldovan against photographer Andrea Polito amounted to
Polito, according to a lawsuit filed in March 2015, said the couple engaged in a "smear campaign," used negative publicity to "destroy" her business and even bragged online "they were, 'pretty sure her business is done.'"
The Moldovans were upset over a required $125 fee for a cover for their wedding album -- an item they said was not on their contract and should have been included in the cost of their wedding album.
In an interview with NBC 5 in January 2015, the Moldovans said that Polito's office manager told them unless they paid the fee for a cover their photo album would be forfeited. In the 2015 interview with NBC 5, Moldovan argued, "An album comes with a cover. It’s a component of an album. It’s a book.”
In January 2015, Polito didn't want to go on camera, but said she'd "be more than happy to address any inquiries in writing via email." In an email to NBC 5 at that time, Polito said, “While they have already paid for the cost of the album, they did not pay for the cost of the cover, which is an a la carte item due to the variation of covers available." Polito added that her order form “clearly states that the cover is not included in the wedding package and is an additional charge.”
After NBC 5's story aired, both Polito and the Moldovans were bombarded with criticism on social media. The Moldovans said in 2015 some of the social media comments, or "likes," attributed to them were actually coming from fake profiles.
“Neither of us ever hoped her business is ruined, nor do we even want that,” Andrew Moldovan said in 2015. “We came to NBC just to get our photos and album. Nothing more.”
The couple did admit in 2015, however, to posting messages on Instagram before and after the interview that said, “Excited to be on NBC” and “justice is served.”
On Friday, more than two years after the story ran, a Dallas County jury found the couple's social media posts were done out of malice and that Polito followed the terms of her contract with the newlyweds.
Jurors found the Moldovans liable for defamation, disparagement, and civil conspiracy, and awarded punitive damages.
"Ms. Polito hopes this verdict will reinforce her attempts to repair her reputation, while also sending a message that freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences," said Dave Wishnew, Polito's lawyer. "Texas has one of the strongest laws in the nation to protect individuals who air legitimate grievances and opinions. But those protections don't extend to a concerted campaign designed to defame and destroy someone's hard-earned business."
Following the decision, Polito told The Dallas Morning News she's determined to rebuild her company.
"I’m emotionally exhausted. This has been a very long battle," she said. "Last Friday when the verdict was read I felt a little bit relieved, but most importantly I feel my reputation was restored to myself. What’s been so hard the past couple of years has been feeling so ashamed of this story."
She told DallasNews.com she hopes that others who may be in a similar situation take away that they have to "fight for what's right and fight for your passion."
"No one is safe from this," she said. "I wasn’t a new business, I was an established business with a reputation that was well-respected in the Dallas community."
The Moldovans' attorney, T. Chase Garrett of Frisco, did not immediately return an email seeking comment. His office telephone went to voicemail and said it was full and not accepting new messages.
DonKey68 on August 2nd, 2017 at 03:40 UTC »
FYI, this source, NBC-DFW, contributed to the original problem. They aired the story originally in 2015, and took the couple's side, causing an avalanche of bad publicity that ruined the woman's business. They are complicit. Yet even now, notice the photo caption implies that the wedding photographer ripped them off, even though a judge just ruled otherwise.
OhhhhhDirty on August 2nd, 2017 at 03:27 UTC »
Jesus people read the article before you make judgements. These people went on the news and told complete lies about this lady and went way out of their way to ruin her successful business. They posted lies on numerous social media outlets and the bride's blog. The $125 fee was in the contract, and even though the photographer offered to waive it they still continued their smear campaign. They also demanded the hi-res originals though the contract said they would get them only with the delivery of the album. Again in an effort to make them happy the photographer offered to give them to them once they filled out the forms for the album order, and they didn't even do that.
She was nothing but professional and they set out with the malicious intent of ruining her business and were successful. She went from booking up to 100 weddings a year to less than 5. They were directly responsible and are being held liable. How would you like it if a client that you did everything to accommodate went on the news and told complete lies and ruined your business?
Read the court docs at the bottom of the article, it's very eye-opening. I thought it sounded like bullshit until I read them.
Krieger_Bot_OO7 on August 1st, 2017 at 21:43 UTC »
Does the couple have to pay for this? Where's this money come from?