When Neely and Andrew Moldovan decided to tie the knot, they hired photographer Andrea Polito (above) to take photos and make a wedding photo album for them. Although their contract stated that the couple would receive the photographs when their entire wedding album was complete, they began emailing Polito for high-resolution photos just weeks after the wedding. At that point, the couple hadn’t completed an order form or paid the $125 fee for the photo album’s cover, which Politio had custom made in Italy. The Moldovans went to a local television station to publicly complain about Polito, claiming she was holding their wedding photos hostage. That set off a firestorm of negative reviews and comments on popular wedding photography websites, as well as on Polito's social media pages. That led to the demise of Polito's photography business, which prompted her to file a lawsuit against the Moldovans for defamation. A Dallas County jury agreed with Polito that the Moldovans’ social media campaign was done out of malice and that Polito had followed the terms of the contract they agreed to. Jurors found the Moldovans liable for defamation, disparagement, and civil conspiracy, and awarded Polito punitive damages in the amount of $1.8 million. Polito says she feels vindicated and is determined to rebuild her company. She said 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."
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| Neely and Andrew Moldovan |
