Defamation can cause severe – and even irrevocable – harm to an individual’s character, reputation or career. When it comes to dealing with defamation in the workplace, things get even more serious… but also complicated.
How do you know that you’re a victim of defamation in the workplace? This is the question we asked our Los Angeles defamation attorney at JML Law.
What is defamation
There are two types of defamation in California: defamation of character and defamation per se.
The former type refers to when one of a company’s representatives – supervisor, employer, employee, etc. – negligently shares, disseminates or makes public untruthful and false information about another representative at the company, which ultimately causes harm to the targeted person’s character, reputation, or career.
Defamation of character
Defamation of character falls into two categories: libel (defamation that is done in writing) and slander (defamation done verbally).
Our best defamation attorneys in Los Angeles explain that in order to seek compensation and sue another person for defamation of character, you must have proof that you’ve suffered some sort of damage and harm as a result of the false and untruthful statements or comments about you.
You must also prove that the defamatory statements and comments were untrue in order to pursue a defamation lawsuit in Los Angeles.
Defamation per se
Defamation per se refers to when a company’s representative deliberately makes defamatory comments or statements about an employee, employer or co-worker with the intent to harm one’s character, reputation, or career.
You can sue for defamation per se when the person is purposefully sharing false, untruthful, or misleading information about you, and that information can clearly be interpreted as defamatory, fraudulent, and harmful.
In order to file a lawsuit for defamation per se, you do NOT have to prove that you’ve suffered damages or harm as a result of the defamatory comments and statements.
Signs of defamation in the workplace
Many victims of defamation in the workplace fail to see signs of this type of unlawful and harmful conduct, and therefore, cannot save their face, reputation, and career and pursue legal action.
Our Los Angeles defamation attorneys have outlined a couple of examples of defamation in the workplace:
- Libel: an employer sending out mass emails in which he warns all employees that a certain employee sexually harassed one of the employees (the employer did not conduct an investigation prior to sending the warning email, and the employee did not sexually harassed anyone).
- Slander: an employer A warning employer B about his former employee, who is trying to get a job at employer B’s company, saying that the employee stole from his business, when, in fact, he didn’t. As a result, the employer B denies employment to the employee.
- Defamation per se: an employee, who is being positioned for a promotion, tells everybody in the workplace, including the employer, that another employee, who is also a candidate for promotion, committed fraud, when, in fact, she didn’t. As a result, the promotion is offered to the employee who shared defamatory information.
Consequences of defamation
If you’ve been a victim of defamation in the workplace, be warned that the consequences of defamation can be extremely severe unless you sue the person responsible for spreading defamatory information.
In fact, defamatory statements or comments can significantly decrease the quality of your life, turn you into a pariah, make you the butt of jokes at work, mess with your reputation and career, and take an emotional toll, among other things.
Seek the legal help of a Los Angeles defamation attorney in order to take legal action and collect compensatory damages for the emotional distress, legal expenses, lost wages, public humiliation, and other damages.
Consult our attorneys at JML Law by calling at 818-610-8800 or send us an email to get a free consultation. Don’t let them ruin your future. Act now.
