Restaurant Owner Sues Paper For Defamation: Are Its Anonymous Restaurant Reviews Over?

Restaurant owner Alex Plotkin, unhappy over a review of the food at his place, Chops, in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, is suing the Philadephia Inquirer and its food critic, Craig LaBan, for defamation. Mr. Plotkin says Mr. LaBan’s recent review of a dinner at Chops was unfair. But the judge’s order that Mr. LaBan give an on-camera deposition might mean that everybody would know what Mr. LaBan looks like, and then Mr. LaBan could no longer visit Philadelphia area restaurants anonymously, a real problem for a restaurant reviewer. Read more here in a CNN.com story.