I personally would not lose any sleep over this incident, or pay for any attorney consultations until such time as any legal actions are filed.
As already stated, the probability of a defamation action being taken against you is very low. If these allegations are substantially true, even if difficult to prove, the last thing any reasonably sane person would do is spend a lot of money to challenge such allegations in a public forum. Especially if there is any possibility someone else may hear of the case and come forward to corroborate the individual is disposed to sexual harassment.
It is entirely possible this is not the first time the school has had an allegation of inappropriate behaviour leveled against this employee, but for many reasons the school would surely do its best to keep such information confidential.
I disagree that a finding of ‘not guilty’ in this case by a school review board (which is far from a court of law) is an affirmation of innocence. One could reasonably question the impartiality of any organization that police’s itself. A finding of guilty against its own employee and terminating him for this could cause legal problems for the school from both the employee and the victim of harassment. So the schools need for damage control and desire to mitigate the problem would surely instill some measure of bias in the schools investigation and findings.
Either way, should a lawsuit be filed, the facts in this case would be independently reviewed by another fact-finder, whether that be a judge or a jury.
Whether or not the Plaintiff prevails in a defamation action will ultimately boil down to which party is more believable. With this type of case, a jury may be preferable to a judge for the defendant… but not always.
As already stated, the probability of a defamation action being taken against you is very low. If these allegations are substantially true, even if difficult to prove, the last thing any reasonably sane person would do is spend a lot of money to challenge such allegations in a public forum. Especially if there is any possibility someone else may hear of the case and come forward to corroborate the individual is disposed to sexual harassment.
It is entirely possible this is not the first time the school has had an allegation of inappropriate behaviour leveled against this employee, but for many reasons the school would surely do its best to keep such information confidential.
I disagree that a finding of ‘not guilty’ in this case by a school review board (which is far from a court of law) is an affirmation of innocence. One could reasonably question the impartiality of any organization that police’s itself. A finding of guilty against its own employee and terminating him for this could cause legal problems for the school from both the employee and the victim of harassment. So the schools need for damage control and desire to mitigate the problem would surely instill some measure of bias in the schools investigation and findings.
Either way, should a lawsuit be filed, the facts in this case would be independently reviewed by another fact-finder, whether that be a judge or a jury.
Whether or not the Plaintiff prevails in a defamation action will ultimately boil down to which party is more believable. With this type of case, a jury may be preferable to a judge for the defendant… but not always.
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