what she said, she suggested that christopher dietz was a con man, maybe a thief. today dietz fighting back and winning. >> to finally be winning on principles and knowing that good people do prevail, it's very, very happy. >> reporter: contractor christopher dietz crowing outside the courthouse after winning a preliminary injunction against a former customer who wrote a series of scathing online reviews. >> what she put up there were pure lies and stated as fact. so that damage can never be undone, but we can certainly stop future damage.

now if you look, there are still some reviews of his company dietz development right here on yelp. they are posted by other people, but dietz says that the one posted by jane perez was slander and he won a partial victory today in fairfax circuit court. jane perez lives in this townhouse seen here on mary crest street in fairfax. according to the lawsuit filed by chris dietz, she hired him to do some painting, refinish some floors, electrical plumbing, other handyman work at her home. dietz took her to court when she claimed in reviews on yelp and angie's list that the work was shoddy and some of her jewelry was missing. the judge ruled in favor of a preliminary injunction requiring that any allegations of criminal activity be removed and that her claim she had won a previous civil suit against him be edited. deet says he feels vindicated because -- dietz says he feels vindicated because her accusations were untrue and i says she never paid for any -- he says she n paid for any of the work. >> you can't just slander somebody and expect to get away with it. i hope it encourages othe

. >> reporter: she'd hired dietz to install a toilet, refinish floors and fix light switches, but when things went south, she wrote that dietz damaged her home and hinted that he had stolen her jewelry. the judge ordered her to take down any allegations of thievery and to stop claiming she'd won another lawsuit against dietz on the merits. her lawyer says there is a warning here for all of us. >> be very careful. it appears at least in virginia you have to watch very carefully what you say and what you opine. >> reporter: but the judge did not order perez to change a bunch of other nasty things in her review. >> that he charged for work that had not been done and that the workmanship was very poor. >> i stand by the work that i did. >> reporter: experts say lawsuits like this are rare, but online reputations now so important we may well see more. in fairfax bruce leshan, 9 news now. >> we have to tell you the experts do tell us the number of lawsuits like that one are still pretty small, but online reputations are now so important to restaurants, doctors, lawyers, contractors we may we

what she said, she suggested that christopher dietz was a con man, maybe a thief. today dietz fighting back and winning. >> to finally be winning on principles and knowing that good people do prevail, it's very, very happy. >> reporter: contractor christopher dietz crowing outside the courthouse after winning a preliminary injunction against a former customer who wrote a series of scathing online reviews. >> what she put up there were pure lies and stated as fact. so that damage can never be undone, but we can certainly stop future damage. >> reporter: jane perez says she never imagined her reviews on yelp and angie's list would land her in court facing thousands of dollars in legal fees and potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages for defamation. she'd hired dietz to install a.com refinish floors and fix some light switches, but when things went south, she wrote that dietz had damaged her home and hinted that he had stolen her jewelry. the judge ordered her to take down any allegations of thievery and to stop claiming she'd won another lawsuit again

she had hired dietz to install a toilet, refinish floors and fix some light swipes. but when things went south she wrote that dietz had damaged her home and hinted that he had stolen her jewelry. the judge ordered her to take down any allegations of thievery and to stop claiming she had won another lawsuit against dates on the merits. her lawyer says there is a warning here for all of us. >> be very careful have. it appears, at least in virginia, you have to watch very carefully what you say and what you opine. >> reporter: but the judge did not order perez to change a bunch of other nasty things in her review. >> that he charged for work that had not been done, and that the workmanship was very poor. >> i stand by the work that i did. >> reporter: experts say lawsuits like this are still rare but on-line reputations now so important we may well see more. in fairfax, bruce leshan, 9news now. snow as we know, those on-line reputations, when they are threatened, we now realize that doctor, lawyers, contractors, rest contractors, and restauranteurs may decide to take to

she'd hired dietz to install a toilet, but when things went south, she wrote dietz had damaged her home and hinted that he had stolen her jewelry. the judge ordered her to take down any allegations of thievery. >> be very careful. >> reporter: experts say lawsuits like this are still rare, but online reputations now so important we may well see more. in fairfax bruce leshan, 9 news now. >>> apparently it takes a whole lot of explosives to blow up a bank atm, but somebody tried to crack open an itm about 4:00 in the morning in fredericksburg at the drive-thru of the virginia credit union, but all those explosives did was leave scorch marks. the atm kept right on humming along. investigators hope the surveillance video can lead them to the mad bomber. >>> still ahead at 6:00 residents of one local neighborhood say they're tired of bamboo invading their yards and they want the city to do something about it. >> 72 yesterday. here's the high and low today. we're stepping down to reality slowly 63, lows so far 54. the record high was 75 set back in 2001. we'll come back, talk about just how c

. >> reporter: perez hired dietz, a former high school class mat in june 2011, to do cosmetic work on townhouse. on happy with the results, she gave him an f-rating on angie's list. on yelp, she suggested he stole jewelry. she ended her scathing review with this advice, bottom line, do not put yourself through this nightmare of a contractor. dietz issued his own response, then fired back with a 700,000 lawsuit for defamation. >> there was no question in my mind that i did 150% professional job in her house. >> reporter: he says perez's claims are all lies, lies that cost him 300,000 in lost business. >> people have a right to state how they feel, but when you state stuff as fact and it's not fact or it's not supported, there has to be some type of, for lack of a better word, punishment. >> reporter: wednesday dietz was awarded his first victory. a judge ordered perez to take down any allegations of theft and comments about legal action. >> if we need to, we will appeal, to make sure people are not afraid to speak out. >> reporter: the court still must decide whether there are grounds

. >> we met tammy dietz at the tennessee prison for women.asn't her crime that caught our attention. it was her disability. >> what is it like being deaf in prison? >> it's not fun. it's not. you know, you got a lot of bullies here. a lot of them make fun of me, you know, all the time. >> dietz has been deaf since birth. >> i know sign language, i read lips, and i've just been reading lips. >> but as a young woman, it wasn't her hearing that caused her life to unravel, it was a crack addiction. >> fighting, i couldn't find crack, if i couldn't find crack, i'd do heroin, you know. >> her addiction led to a life of prostitution and several arrests. she's currently serving three years not just for prostitution, but aggravated prostitution. >> tell me what aggravated prostitution means. >> what it means is that knowing that you have hiv and you're out there on the corner, walking, trying to get dates. >> dietz was first diagnosed with hiv in 1999. >> so from 1999 to when you were incarcerated, how many -- how many customers, how many tricks do yo

jane perez posted negative reviews about contractor christopher dietz on yelp and angie's list. she also stated that some of her jewelry went missing, and that dietz had the only other key to her house. dietz took her to court, claiming the reviews damaged his business. >> people have the right to write a review that is honest and truthful. if it's negative, but it's true, that's fair. but when it's negative and untrue, that's not fair. >> reporter: after a three-hour hearing for a temporary injunction at the fairfax county courthouse, the judge said he felt the missing jewelry comments unfairly implied dietz was a thief, and ordered them removed from existing web reviews and not mentioned further. perez chose not to talk afterward. >> if we need to, we will appeal to make sure that people are not afraid to speak out. >> reporter: the yelp review has already been pulled. a date for the defamation twil has not been set. jackie bensen, news4. >> dietz is looking for $750,000 for the claims that he says have cost him a lot of business. >>> maryland casinos cashed in more than $43 m

the contractor is named christopher dietz. the judge says that the woman's po posts about her jewelry goes too far and she has to remove that part of her accusation. >> people have a right to write a review that's honest and truthful. if it's negative and true, that's fair. but when it's negative and true, that's not fair. >> this is a preliminary injunction in dietz's $750,000 defamation lawsuit. >> drivers love a proposal that will slash the tolls on the intercounty connector. but the idea isn't getting support from highway officials. montgomery councilman phil andrews first introduced this idea saying the lack of traffic makes the road look more like an airport runway. at midday, traffic along all 18 miles from montgomery to prince george's county was sparse. drivers pay as much as $8 round trip on the icc. andrews claims that reducing the toll cost by half would increase traffic, reduce congestion on other roads and bring in the same revenue. >> i use it a couple times a month. i would use it more frequently, but i think t

dietz crowing outside a courthouse after winning a preliminary injunction against a former customeries of scathing online reviews. >> what she put up there were

wnbc's jonathan dietz joins us now. what is the latest? >> well, the latest is that at least one gunman is dead. there are some unconfirmed reports that there may, may have been, a second suspect, and that is why there is this enormous lockdown in and around the neighborhood. that, again, is unconfirmed. there were some reports about a van being found a few blocks from the scene, and that was being checked out. what we do know is that one gunman is dead, and that two .9 millimeter handguns were found at the school near him and it is unclear if he took his own life or if he was taken out by the responding police. newtown police, connecticut state police, the fbi, atf, among the many agencies responding to this scene, and we are told from hospital officials that at least three people have been transported there. they are not saying if they are adults or children, and police are not saying whether there are victims missed that school at this hour. the 911 calls began flooding in to police about a shooting both in and around the school campus

. >> for the past year and a half this is the day christopher dietz has been waiting for. >> to be able to say i was right and true prevailed, it's a great feeling. >> the decision stems from internet postings following work that he did on this town home in fairfax county owned by jane press. in june 2011 she hired his company for the job. she claims it was awful, doors off the hinges, the window work scuffed floors. she aired her grievances on yelp and angieslist. in addition she accused him of stealing her jewelry and trespassing. >> she should have a right to explain her interaction with the contractor >> . she removed her post from yelp on her own, but the judge is allowing deposed on angieslist to remain. but she must remove allegations about the jewelry theft and about legal action against him. >> if it's true, that's fair. but when it's not true, that's not fair. >> she definitely pull the troops. >> it might be true or not. >> i don't put too much weight on one bad review if overall reviews are good. >> 7 is on your side with tough action against a baby food maker. the third tim

joining us from washington is chris dietz, founder of dietz development and his attorney as well.g to you. >> good morning. >> good morning, don. >> we also invited jane perez, who did not respond to our requests. so, chris, do you think this is a big win for you? >> well, i think it's the beginning of an important win. let me clear something up quickly. those posted you pictures, the carpet with the stain, that's the original carpet. i never was allowed to install the correct carpet. she fired me before i got to install it. it had already been purchased so i couldn't install it. >> she's not here to defend herself, did not respond to our request. >> sure. >> we got a statement from perez's attorney saying she would abide by the judge's order as this. we got this as well. lawsuits of this nature can have a chilling effect on free speech since their intent is to use a lawsuit and the prospect of expensive legal fees to intimidate customers who have had bad experiences, from sharing those experiences with others. so, chris, does this lawsuit hurt your business more since customers a

you be the judge. >> you know, christopher dietz responded on the site saying it didn't happen.chool together. a court is intervening and i'm struggling with this. if the fist amendment means anything it means americans are supposed to sort these things out. again it's an interim order, not dispositive of the case. here is an example of oh where technology is leaps and bounds ahead of the law. we'll see mixed opinions by judges. it is a struggle. i think at the end of the day though the first amendment suffers with this kind of opinion. >> thanks so much. i guess i have to cut it off at this point. appreciate it. good to see you guys. the legal guys are here every saturday at this time at 4:00 p.m. eastern to give us their take on the most intriguing legal cases of the day. >>> forget the winter blues. if you want sun, fun and relaxation, stick around. a travel expert tells us her top spots for a warm getaway. i'm ready for that. you know, one job or the other. the moment i could access the retirement plan, i just became firm about it -- you know, it's like it just hits you fast

without specifics, store president tom dietz says any gun owner could feel vulnerable. >> how it wouldted, would the existing rifles that are in the marketplace be legal or would they go across the board and make everything that people have previously purchased illegal. >> reporter: the uncertainty bothers non-gun owners as well. brandon ward is a first time gun buyer, worried about protecting his family. why now? why today? so soon after the shootings? >> i'm worried the government is going to put so much regulations on being able to do this come future months that it's not going to be an option for me. >> reporter: industry analysts see this as a possible peak to the sales growth that began with the election of president obama four years ago. u.s. gun sales totaled $2.5 billion in 2008. this year, that figure could top $3.5 billion. david mattingly, cnn, roswell, georgia. >>> "outfront" next, here in newtown, teacher lauren rousseau. her boyfriend wants the world to know about the woman he loves. and can life ever return to normal? some of our guests tried today and you will hear the

here in a fox business exclusive, another one, the founder and owner of dietz development.he lawsuit. thanks for being here. i want to lay the facts out. let you respond. you were hired to paint, refinish floors, perform electrical and plumbing work in a woman's home of june of 2011. she claims, this is what she posted that you left damage it my home of the work had to be reaccomplished and i found jewelry missing. bottom line don't put yourself through this nightmare. she basically called you a thief and said you damaged her home. how do you prove these things are untrue? >> going to the sources. she stated i stole jewelry. i went to the police and asked for police report. got a copy of itist it is closed the investigation. they followed up with a complaint that miss perez made. when they found there was no evidence to her basis for the complaint, they closed it saying all leads exhausted. and regarding the accusation of the work, you have a situation here where i did the work 150%. she never paid me deposit and never any payments. at the end asked for punch list, i have t

this is an anomaly, but if this happens more than -- >> we're just hearing from wnbc's jonathan dietz, hess reporting that there's one apparent shooter dead, he appears to be an adult. it's unclear how many other adults have been injured. there's no reports of any kids injured and he does not know if there are other adults injured. and also two handguns recovered. to both you and chris, one apparent shooter dead and he is an adult. this as we understand right now, according to state police there, they are going room by room, still at that location. of sandy hook elementary school and they will be holding a news conference at about 1:00 p.m. eastern time. we also again want to report that two handguns have been reported. and just the timing here to the both of you, i mean sandy hook elementary, we were getting some sense of timing earlier that they were hearing shots around 9:00, and 9:05 is when the kindergarten starts and when they gather. so that's consistent with what we were reporting earlier. again, grades 1 through 4, this is a town about 60 miles from new york city. it covers,

this is a preliminary injunction to dietz's $750,000 defamation lawsuit.o far no date has been set for trial yet. >>> time for weather and traffic on the 1s. man, does it feel like a different day, different season, all different today. >> finally acting like december. and even though it's not astronomical winter yet, it's certainly feeling like mid winter cold. i talked about winter and snow at this school with students yesterday afternoon. we had a great time. these second graders were yelling words like me like evaporation, condensation! it was wonderful. precipitation! they have already had a unit on weather. we had a great time there talking about all different kinds of weather. they loved my pop-up book. and there is the teacher there in the back on the left that did the invitation. i want to thank allison spurlock for the invitation to visit this wonderful school in fairfax, old creek elementary school, talking to all these second graders. they were really smart. they knew a lot about weather and it was a great time. it is a cold morning. all these

dietz, he is on page 2 of the new york post today because he got defamed in this lawsuit.t's all over the place. now he'll lose business. people in his line of work survive because of word of mouth. now he's accused of stealing some jewelry inside the house. >> greta: goss it make adoes ita difference if it's true? there's something about opinion. you can say someone -- i don't like the work that's done, it's not done well. it's another thing you can be a little more direct and hurt their business. >> i think you'll find that truth is a defense, so if this woman believes there was shoddy work done and she can show that there was shoddy work done or quite naturally, she has a right to complain in any forum she wants to as far as i'm concerned. >> greta: except she may have a right to do it, but she's getting sued which is rather unpleasant. sometimes it's not good to be right, right bernie? you don't want to get sued. >> you end up in court and both sides lose. there's defamation, per se. she accused him of stealing jewelry in the house without really much evidence at all.

without specifics store president tom dietz says any gun owner could feel vulnerable. >> how it will be implemented, will the existing rifles in the marketplace be legal or would they go across the board and make everything that people have previously purchased illegal? >> the uncertainty bothers non-gun owners as well. brandon ward is a first time gun buyer worried about protecting his family. why now? why today so soon after the shootin shootings? >> because i am worried the government is going to put so much regulation on being able to do this, come future months, that it is not going to be an option for me. >> industry analysts see this as a possible peak to the sales growth that began when the election of president obama four years ago. u.s. kbun sales totaled $2.5 billion in 2008. this year that figure could top 3.5 billion. these latest sales were not entirely unanticipated, ashlee. we saw after the shootings in aurora, colorado, there was a 43% jump the following week in the state of colorado for background checks. this following an unfortunate pattern. >> david mattingly, th

let me just update from wnorthbound's jonathan dietz, and this is very preliminary and we know these numbers are going to change, and the story will evolve, but a law enforcement official who jonathan, who is our experienced criminal justice reporter in new york at wnbc is reporting that a law enforcement official in the area is saying that 17 or 18 children may, in fact, be dead and that seven or eight adults as well are believed killed. >> well, first, of course, our thoughts and prayers are with those people with their family members who are now, i'm sure, trying to find out what happened. we hope that situation -- we -- our thoughts are with them. david is exactly right. there's been no debate about gun control in this country for years, despite a series of these horrific shootings. i wonder if that's about to change. governor hickenlooper, the very popular governor of colorado, says enough time has passed since that movie theater shooting that was so horrific says now may be the time in january for the legislature there to talk about gun control, and michael bloomberg, who is ab