"habitual liar, bum" and racketerror

[purplemarker]

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

There has been an ethics complaint filed against one of my work colleagues with the local board of realtors by another one of my colleagues. I was asked to give a deposition in the case about what I knew about how he (the defendant) conducted business, which I did truthfully to the full extent of my knowledge. It has come to my attention that the defendant in response to my deposition has, called me a habitual liar, a bum and has accused me of lying in the deposition in return for different financial favors from the plaintiff. The first two may be true BUT the last accusation is completely false and in the way he proposed I accepted the favors are illegal. What he accuses me of is purgering myself and accepting the bribes in the way in which he said I have could be construed as racketeering.

These accusations could and probably will greatly affect my business, as I have already heard though the “grapevine” of these accusations. I contacted the board of realtors to try and get a copy of the deposition to be sure these things actually were said and if so--so I could contradict the claims to try and save my reputation, in which my business greatly depends.

The Board of realtors has denied my request for a copy of this deposition stating it is confidential being the complaint was not filed against me specifically. Whether on not the complaint was specifically against me, it has affected me. Do they have the right to deny me a copy of a deposition that has affected my reputation? If so is there a way I can legally obtain it?

Thank you so much for any advice!What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[quincy]

If you are a party to a suit, you may obtain a transcript of the depositions, and as a witness you are able to obtain a transcript of your own deposition, but you as a witness are not entitled to the transcripts of others' depositions. Depositions are a discovery tool and the information or documents obtained in a deposition may or may not be used or admitted as evidence in court.

Unless you can demonstrate a relevant and compelling need for the material from the deposition and that you have no alternative way to get the material and that the material is not privileged, your request for a transcript of the deposition will be denied. Simply to determine if something was or was not said about you in someone's deposition won't cut it. You will have to wait for any trial preparation material to be made part of a court record to have access to it. Otherwise it remains confidential.

If you are interested in suing this man for defamation, you can potentially use the "grapevine" communications as the basis for a suit. If you have suffered demonstrable reputational injury based on comments made about you by this man to others, consult with an attorney in your area to see how to proceed (or to see if you have an action that is worth pursuing).

Good luck.

 

[purplemarker]

Thanks Quincy!

Thank You Quincy-

I suppose I am not at the point I am interesting in pursuing a defamation suit, especially from things heard through the "grapevine"...yet. I was hoping that because the depositions were taken by the Board of Realtors and not an actual court that I would have some right to them, to determine if in fact the things said were really as bad as I was hearing. This guy seems to be hanging on by a thread to keep his business the last thing I want is to add something trivial such as "he said bad things about me...." I am mostly worried about implications especially criminal if he said I am accepting bribes to lie about him.

Thanks Again!

 

[quincy]

You're welcome, purplemarker.

If the comments that were made by your work colleague to the Board of Realtors start to affect you adversely in your profession, consult with an attorney. False unprivileged statements that accuse you of committing a crime, or imply you committed a crime, will support a defamation action if you can show that reputational harm (either personal or professional) resulted from the statements. Some reputational harm may be presumed.

Good luck.