Slandered by another employee

[Magoo257]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

I was recently rehired by my previous employer. A previous employee found out about my return and went to HR to talk bad about me the day before I was supposed to start. The day I started, they tried to fire me right away because the previous employee said I offered to falsify her time card 1 year ago. I never said I would, nor did any stealing of time occurred. They basically believed that employee and fired me before I even started. Do I have a case against the employee for slander? They had no proof of the conversation nor did I falsely any time cards. Basically this employee just ruined my reputation I worked on for 10 years.

 

[Proserpina]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

I was recently rehired by my previous employer. A previous employee found out about my return and went to HR to talk bad about me the day before I was supposed to start. The day I started, they tried to fire me right away because the previous employee said I offered to falsify her time card 1 year ago. I never said I would, nor did any stealing of time occurred. They basically believed that employee and fired me before I even started. Do I have a case against the employee for slander? They had no proof of the conversation nor did I falsely any time cards. Basically this employee just ruined my reputation I worked on for 10 years.

How do you intend to prove your allegation?

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

I was recently rehired by my previous employer. A previous employee found out about my return and went to HR to talk bad about me the day before I was supposed to start. The day I started, they tried to fire me right away because the previous employee said I offered to falsify her time card 1 year ago. I never said I would, nor did any stealing of time occurred. They basically believed that employee and fired me before I even started. Do I have a case against the employee for slander? They had no proof of the conversation nor did I falsely any time cards. Basically this employee just ruined my reputation I worked on for 10 years.

A few questions, the answers of which can help determine if you have any legal action to consider against the employee:

You say you were "rehired." What was the reason for your earlier departure from this employer?

You say the employee claimed you offered to falsify her time card but you "never said [you] would." Was there a discussion with the employee at any time about falsifying time cards, even if no time card was ever falsified?

You say the reputation you "worked on for 10 years" is ruined. Assuming you are older than 10, why have you had to "work" on your reputation? Is there something in your past that might have damaged your reputation?

With a slander suit, it would be for you to prove that a defamatory (false) statement was made about you to another or others, the employee made it, that it was made with negligence, and you suffered harm as a result. It is up to the employee you are claiming made the statement to have a defense (i.e, no statement was made, the statement made was true, the statement made was opinion, the statement made was privileged, whatever).

The HR experts will probably tell you that, regardless of whether what the employee said to the employer was true or false, the employer could still fire you. The employer does not have to believe that what the employee said was true to terminate your employment.

 

[Chyvan]

fired me before I even started.

If you quit a job to take this one and are now jobless, go file for unemployment.

 

[LeeHarveyBlotto]

Does the co-worker have any money?