How to protect my job from slander?

[Canes]

Location: Los Angeles, California

Hello all, need legal advice help please.

I am 57 years old and born in the Philippines. I have 2 relatives of similar age, one older and one younger, who hold a rather petty but serious grudge against me that has built up over the years.

They've now threatened to tell my employer that I sexually abused the younger one a long time ago in an effort to get me fired from my job. Or at the least slander my reputation at work.

This is an absolute lie. A horrible horrible lie.

I have no way of stopping these 2 evil people unfortunately and they won't listen to reason or decency. I don't know what to do and obviously I don't want to lose my job.

My question is, how do I protect myself from this?

 

[LdiJ]

Location: Los Angeles, California

Hello all, need legal advice help please.

I am 57 years old and born in the Philippines. I have 2 relatives of similar age, one older and one younger, who hold a rather petty but serious grudge against me that has built up over the years.

They've now threatened to tell my employer that I sexually abused the younger one a long time ago in an effort to get me fired from my job. Or at the least slander my reputation at work.

This is an absolute lie. A horrible horrible lie.

I have no way of stopping these 2 evil people unfortunately and they won't listen to reason or decency. I don't know what to do and obviously I don't want to lose my job.

My question is, how do I protect myself from this?

Unless you have a job where you are working with children, those kinds of allegations should not have impact on your employment.

However, you could sit down with your employer and explain what is going on. You don't have to tell the employer specifically what kind of lies your relatives have threatened to tell, just that they have made the threat.

 

[mistoffolees]

Location: Los Angeles, California

Hello all, need legal advice help please.

I am 57 years old and born in the Philippines. I have 2 relatives of similar age, one older and one younger, who hold a rather petty but serious grudge against me that has built up over the years.

They've now threatened to tell my employer that I sexually abused the younger one a long time ago in an effort to get me fired from my job. Or at the least slander my reputation at work.

This is an absolute lie. A horrible horrible lie.

I have no way of stopping these 2 evil people unfortunately and they won't listen to reason or decency. I don't know what to do and obviously I don't want to lose my job.

My question is, how do I protect myself from this?

Ldij is correct - it is probably worth having the discussion up front with the employer.

If they do manage to get you fired AND IF YOU CAN PROVE IT (which would be difficult since your employer is unlikely to give you written proof that their allegations caused you to be fired), then you would be able to sue them to attempt to recover your lost wages. That would be very difficult to win, though.

 

[Canes]

**************

See that is the thing, I DO work with children. I am a teacher at a middle school, which is probably why my relatives concocted this exact lie. They knew what type of impact it would have in the place of my employment.

I definitely will talk with the principal and let him know what is going on. However, there is only so much he can do IF this news was spread around and the school board and/or parents got involved.

Should I consult with a lawyer and see what my options are?

Losing my job would be devastating to my family (I have 2 kids). I am shocked that my relatives would stoop to this level and I am filled with equal amounts anger and sadness and frustration and simply confusion over what to do.

 

[mistoffolees]

See that is the thing, I DO work with children. I am a teacher at a middle school, which is probably why my relatives concocted this exact lie. They knew what type of impact it would have in the place of my employment.

I definitely will talk with the principal and let him know what is going on. However, there is only so much he can do IF this news was spread around and the school board and/or parents got involved.

Should I consult with a lawyer and see what my options are?

Losing my job would be devastating to my family (I have 2 kids). I am shocked that my relatives would stoop to this level and I am filled with equal amounts anger and sadness and frustration and simply confusion over what to do.

Yes, I would definitely talk with an attorney.

 

[CdwJava]

Why would these relatives do this to you?

You say they are "threatening" to slander you ... what do they want from you in exchange? If you can, get their demand(s) in writing or recorded. Because if they demand anything from you that can be extortion - a crime.

If they have already begun doing this, you might consider getting an attorney and initiate a lawsuit for slander/libel (depending on the method of transmittal) or have the attorney produce a "cease and desist" letter to them.

 

[LdiJ]

Why would these relatives do this to you?

You say they are "threatening" to slander you ... what do they want from you in exchange? If you can, get their demand(s) in writing or recorded. Because if they demand anything from you that can be extortion - a crime.

If they have already begun doing this, you might consider getting an attorney and initiate a lawsuit for slander/libel (depending on the method of transmittal) or have the attorney produce a "cease and desist" letter to them.

I know a woman (mother of one of my daughter's friends) who did that kind of thing to EVERY single person in the world who ever made her mad.

Her standard modus operandi was to call the health department, animal control, cps, and the person's job, making up all kinds of lies. She did it to family, to friends, to relative strangers. So the person would have to go through all kinds of heck to get their life back to normal.

I fell afoul of her once and it wasn't pretty.

However, she finally did cross the wrong person and got arrested. She spent a couple of months in jail and was put on probation for like 10 years.

 

[Canes]

Why would these relatives do this to you?

You say they are "threatening" to slander you ... what do they want from you in exchange? If you can, get their demand(s) in writing or recorded. Because if they demand anything from you that can be extortion - a crime.

If they have already begun doing this, you might consider getting an attorney and initiate a lawsuit for slander/libel (depending on the method of transmittal) or have the attorney produce a "cease and desist" letter to them.

It has to do with decades of jealousy on the part of one of the relatives, who is my older sister. I was the youngest of the siblings and she felt really bitter about luxuries I was provided. I also am a favorite of many of the siblings, so there is also jealousy there. The other relative has become very close with my sister, so she just became an ally with no real reason to hold a grudge against me besides that.

As far as what they want, they actually do want a tangible item and that is what has spurred the recent activity on their part. I won't go into specifics but it involves property. The problem with trying to record a specific demand is they are using backchannels to communicate these threats to me, basically using other relatives as conduits of information. They won't speak to my directly and would definitely be suspicious if I tried to get a face to face meeting and then egg a confession out of them.

Once they start acting on these threats, I'll definitely get a "cease and desist" order because they have no way of backing up their lies. I just hate the impact it may have on my standing at my job. I can say I am innocent and defend myself but whose to say everyone believes me, even if I have every reason to be given the benefit of the doubt. Gossip is gossip, ya know?

 

[justalayman]

very difficult, if not impossible to do anything proactively.

Your recourse would be a defamation suit after the fact.

 

[Canes]

Thanks for the help everyone.

IF/WHEN this happens, I'll post in here what exactly was done and any immediate fall out.

Should get a better feel for potential recourse at that time.

Of course I am praying they just come to their senses and NOT do this. I am sick to my stomach that they would cross the line like this.

Families have drama and that's just the reality but to threaten my job and my family????