A Colorado couple has spent $65,000 in legal fees after being slapped with a lawsuit following a critical review posted on Yelp; that's twice what they paid for the contractor's work.

Matt White and his fiancée, Amanda Jameer, of Jefferson County, Colorado, hired Footprints Floors to do some installation and repair work at their home. After deeming the work "deplorable," the couple posted a review on Yelp that described their experience with the company as "absolutely horrible." Footprints Floors, claiming White's Yelp review cost the company 167 projects and $625,000 in revenue between January 1 and August 1, 2014, filed a defamation suit. White and Jameer claimed that the suit is a blatant attack on free speech.

"Some of the other reviews were much more scathing than my review," said White.

"I feel like we're being bullied," added Jameer. "It's still unbelievable to me even though we've been going through this for a year."

Colorado State Senator Tim Neville worries such lawsuits are a way to censor critics, adding that he might introduce legislation next year that would make Colorado the 29th state to implement "Anti-SLAPP" legislation to protect consumers who post critical reviews.

"Opinions are opinions and sometimes we don't like someone else's opinion but the great thing about our country is that we have the right to exercise that opinion. That's free speech," Neville said.

White settled his case for $15,000, saying it was cheaper than going to trial, but he refused to sign a nondisclosure agreement.

Yelp weighed in as well telling news sources that, "Businesses that choose to sue their customers to silence them rather than address their comments, often bring additional unwanted attention to the original criticism. We frequently find that a better course of action, rather than suing your customers, is publicly responding to a critical review in the same forum."

—Source: aol.com