The trial between the TV company "Friday" and the restaurant has been going on for a year and a half. fast food Royal Burger. Let me remind you that back in the winter of 2015, this restaurant was visited by the film crew of the "Revizorro" program and, according to tradition, "revealed many violations" of sanitary norms and rules. However, the owners of the restaurant decided to restore their business reputation in court, and in the summer of 2015 they filed a corresponding claim with the Moscow Arbitration Court (case А40-41652 / 2015). To the general surprise of the public, the claim was fully satisfied and the statements from the program were found to be untrue and defamatory. The position of the restaurateurs was upheld in the appeal and cassation instance, leaving the decision in full force.
However, the TV company decided to go all the way and filed a complaint with the RF Supreme Court. But the Supreme Court also defended the earlier decision and left everything in force (), arguing that “ the applicant's arguments were the subject of consideration of the courts, testify to the applicant's disagreement with the courts' assessment of the evidence and the established factual circumstances of the case, which is not a basis for the review of judicial acts by the Judicial Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation».
Here are some of the statements that have been deemed defamatory:
- "... that's why you poison people with machine oil ..." (1:09 minute of the plot);
- "Your cakes have been spoiled a long time ago" (2:32 minute of the plot);
- "you generally know that in your fridge these cakes in large packages are long overdue" (6:43 minute of the plot);
- "expired rolls, on which expired cakes are simply interrupted by marking and sold to guests" (7:46 minute of the plot);
- "all buns for chickenburgers, royalburgers were expired" (8:33 minute of the plot);
- "... and I'm not talking about French fries, which are generally incomprehensibly lying on the floor along with meat like" quiche-misha "(8:40 minute of the plot).
Since the TV channel did not provide any evidence of all these statements, the court justly recognized them as unreliable and defaming the business reputation.
I wonder how many more such decisions will be needed so that ordinary viewers finally stop zealously defending this program, and pay attention to civilized ways of fighting for their rights. Personally, it seems to me that it is not soon, because even in the case of real violations, and even poisoning, it is much easier to get angry at the TV than to work hard: make a complaint and refer it to the competent authorities.
There were rumors that another institution decided to sue Revizorro. Yes, indeed, there was one claim in the court file, but it was returned due to non-compliance with the procedure for the claim procedure ().
It is this definition of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, to which for some reason little attention was paid to the media, that is significant for the struggle of restaurateurs for their rights, and not at all the statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs about the illegality of Revizorro (although it can also help).
I am waiting for you at, where we will consider in great detail how to protect your business reputation and resist the "raids" of the media and public figures!
Smolensk restaurateur Vadim Burkhanov filed a lawsuit to protect his business reputation on the Friday TV channel because of the September release of the “Revizorro” program, where his restaurant “Hagen” was criticized. The plaintiff asks to remove the defamatory information from the channel's website and give a rebuttal on the air and on the website. The claim of Hagen LLC and Dirizhabl LLC, affiliated with each other, was registered in the Moscow Arbitration Court on January 28. Earlier, in December 2015, the Vladivostok Royal Burger won the court of appeal with the same claims. Considering that "Revizorro" has inspected more than 200 restaurants and hotels, experts believe that the channel may face a wave of new lawsuits.
Izvestia could not get a comment from the restaurateur himself.
We are ready for any inspections - both by official inspectors, public bodies, and journalists, but within the framework of the law and within the framework of journalistic ethics. It seems to us that in this program, for the sake of a beautiful picture, consumers were deceived, - explained the representative of the plaintiff.
PR director of "Friday" Natalya Abramochkina explained that so far no claim documents have been submitted to the channel.
We are not afraid of a wave of lawsuits - each restaurateur has his own concept of business reputation. Someone will sue, and some will not. Therefore, we are now running new project“Revizorro-show, where all offended restaurateurs and hoteliers can express their version to Lena Letuchaya in the presence of industry representatives, experts, lawyers,” Abramochkina said. - Courts are an inevitable part of the show. "Revizorro" is a social project of the channel, which should not only be an entertaining show, but also carry some kind of practical meaning. If Lena finds dirt - she necessarily shows it, and whether it is exaggerated or not - there may be a moment of subjective perception of business owners who are offended at us.
Sergei Zhorin, chairman of the presidium of the Moscow Bar Association Zhorin and Partners, believes that the channel will face a series of similar lawsuits, but not for long.
The founders of "Revizorro" lost the first lawsuit, not because they were wrong, but because they did not collect a sufficient evidence base. Therefore, there will be lawsuits, but the authors will soon be reconstructed taking into account the new realities and will learn to win in court. In addition, they figured out how to “extinguish” the wave in advance - their new project “Revizorro-show” allows all restaurateurs to realize the right, prescribed by the law on mass media, to respond to criticism voiced against them, ”the lawyer explained.
The Smolensk issue, which caused the dispute, aired on Friday, September 23, 2015. Lena Letuchaya checked two local hotels - "Russia" and "Derzhava", cafe "Domino" and restaurant "Hagen". All of them received criticism from the host, but the most problematic was "Hagen" - one of the most popular places in the city - which is part of a chain of five restaurants. Flying found violations in the kitchen and dirt in the hall itself. Employees did not allow a number of refrigerators to be examined, tried to get the film crew out, called the police, and then refused to serve Elena in the hall.
The recording was made back in April, but due to a conflict in another restaurant in Smolensk, the film crew interrupted their business trip. As explained in the press service, the material for the "Smolensk" issue was filmed later. According to TNS Russia, the premiere of the issue had target audience"14-44" share 3.9%, which is higher than the average show share of 3.5%.
According to local media reports, immediately after the broadcast, the restaurant owner fired a number of cooks (including the chef) and administration staff. In November, a press tour was organized around Hagen to showcase the changes.
Revizorro (an adaptation of the Ukrainian TV show Revizor on Novy Channel) has been released since June 2014 and is the highest-rated project of the Friday channel, according to TNS Russia. Presenter Elena Letuchaya, together with the film crew, checks the quality of services in public institutions. To date, more than 200 hotels, restaurants, cafes in dozens of cities across the country have been inspected - those that have not passed the inspection of "Revizorro" (and this is the majority), official inspectors can come. The program's website contains data on 22 inspections by Rospotrebnadzor following the results of the program.
According to the channel's PR director, restaurateurs react differently to Revizorro - after the incident in Salekhard in August 2015, when the film crew was beaten and the presenter was threatened with reprisals, the security was seriously strengthened. The team wrote a statement to the local police, the case materials are being prepared for transfer to the prosecutor's office. Journalists were also attacked in Anapa in September 2014.
In December 2015, Infinity FF LLC from Vladivostok (owns a chain of 12 fast food restaurants "Royal Burger" in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories and the Amur Region) won a case against "Pyatnitsa" for the protection of business reputation in the appellate instance due to the release of " Revizorro ". The TV channel does not agree with the decision and is going to challenge it in the next instance. In turn, the TV channel itself in June 2015 threatened a restaurant in Omsk with a court, which posted a fake sticker at the entrance stating that this institution had passed the inspection of "Revizorro".
A restaurateur from Vladivostok won a case for protecting his business reputation from the "Revizorro" show, broadcast on the Friday! TV channel. This was the first such lawsuit against the TV channel, but after a positive decision of the court, there may be more of them.
"Some cockroaches"
Popular TV show "Revizorro" of the TV channel "Friday!" lost in the courts of two instances the case on the protection of business reputation. Infinity FF LLC from Vladivostok, which develops a chain of 12 fast food restaurants "Royal Burger" in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories and the Amur Region, was sued by LLC Telekompaniya Pyatnitsa (part of the Gazprom-Media holding). The case was considered first in the Moscow Arbitration Court, then in the appellate instance.
As follows from the case card, Infinity FF filed a lawsuit on March 12, 2015, demanding to recognize the allegations made on the air of the program, aired on January 2, as “defaming the business reputation”. The plaintiff sought to remove the recording of the program from the company's website and post a refutation of the "false information" there. The claim was satisfied in full, the decision of the appellate instance was published on Tuesday, December 15.
Revizorro is a weekly program aired on Friday TV channel since June 2014. In each episode, presenter Elena Letuchaya, together with the film crew, checks the quality of service and compliance with sanitary and hygienic standards (rules for storing food, cleanliness of premises, etc.) in cafes, restaurants, hotels and other public institutions.
The court decision contains specific phrases of the presenter, which seemed to the plaintiff unreliable and discrediting the reputation, among them: “so you poison people with machine oil”, “your cakes have already deteriorated a long time ago,” “I'm sure there are some cockroaches here. "," I'm not talking about French fries, which, in general, is incomprehensible, is lying on the floor with the meat ", and others.
The video with the program, which became the reason for the legal dispute, was removed from the website of the Friday! Channel, but Gazprom-Media says that it does not agree with the court decision. “In our opinion, the conclusions of the courts do not correspond to the factual circumstances of the case and the evidence in the case, in connection with which we will file a cassation appeal within two months,” Maxim Zhukov, head of the legal department of Gazprom-Media Entertainment Television, told RBC. - A single decision is not an indicator for this category of cases. We believe that there were no violations on the part of the film crew and the TV channel both in the specified issue of the Revizorro program and in the subsequent ones, in connection with which we do not fear any claims from the organizations and enterprises mentioned in the programs.
It was not possible to get through to the heads of the Infinity FF company. Revizorro program
The program "Revizorro" is positioned as a "social reality show" and is an adaptation of the Ukrainian TV show "Inspector" (published on Novy Channel since 2011). The Russian premiere took place in June 2014.
The website of the program claims that the authors cooperate with Rospotrebnadzor: official inspectors later come to cafes and restaurants that “did not pass the checks by Revizorro”. The TV program website contains information about 22 such checks in different cities countries, following the results of which decisions were made on the temporary closure of establishments, fines and issuance of orders.
An employee of Rospotrebnadzor confirmed the fact of cooperation with Revizorro.
According to TNS-Russia, Revizorro is the most popular TV project of the Friday! Channel: the audience share is 3.5% (meaning that at the time of the broadcast, 3.5% of all TV viewers in the country watched it).
Not the last claim
So far, it has not been possible to find other claims against the Friday! TV channel in the files of court cases. on the protection of business reputation. According to Yekaterina Ilyina, a senior lawyer at A2 law firm, the Royal Burger case may inspire other restaurateurs “offended” by Revizorro to take similar actions: “ Legal system RF does not provide for the binding of a judicial precedent. Claims to protect business reputation are a very delicate matter, every action, every formulation is important here, so every subsequent case may differ significantly. But, in our opinion, this case can have a purely psychological impact on potential applicants, prompting them to take action. "
Lawyer Sergei Litvinenko from Business Fairway notes that prior to this precedent, other restaurateurs did not dare to sue Revizorro. He doesn't think that this case will lead to mass legal proceedings, but believes that the channel is likely to receive several new lawsuits.
The largest fine for inflicting reputational damage is more than RUB 300 million. - was awarded in 2004 to the Kommersant newspaper at the suit of Alfa-Bank, the reason was an article on the banking crisis. The newspaper paid this amount, but later managed to achieve in court an almost tenfold reduction in the fine - to 40.5 million rubles.