Wrongly Accused

[Billie Holdman]

My daughter gave two weeks notice to her employer. She had aquired another job. When asked why she was leaving she was honest about the stressful employee problems that existed and did not want to work under such conditions. The manager approached her with another person a few minutes later at her work station and escorted her to the managers office where she was terminated and asked to leave immediately. The next day at her home a police officer called her on the telephone telling her that it had been reported to them that she had made a Bomb threat to her employer and the officer wanted to know if this was true. My daughter denied the accusation and consulted an attorney. The attorney mailed a letter several months later and explained briefly that she may have a law suit but he could not handle it due to possible conflict of interest. She is not sure what to do. She just wants her name cleared of all charges, then of course to have the attorney fees paid for. Would she have a case for defamation here?

 

[loku]

If she could prove that someone falsely accused her of making a bomb threat, then she could certainly sue that person for defamation. In the alternative, if she could prove that no one accused her of making the threat, then she could sue the employer for defamation.

As for the attorney fees, since the attorney did nothing other than tell her that s/he could not handle the case because of a conflict of interest, she may have good cause not to pay the fee. If the attorney has billed her, she should contact the state bar and discuss it with them.