Slander in the workplace - is there anything action to take?

[chatnoir]

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


Hello everyone,
I was freelancing for a company earlier this year. One coworker had a 'toxic' personality and I remarked on it to another coworker over Instant Message (I had said other not so nice things as well, but nothing vile or profanely derogatory). One month later, on a Wednesday, the coworker who received the messages was fired for another reason, which required the 'toxic' person to cover the phone at the fired coworker's desk. Thursday, 'Toxic' person proceeded to go through the fired coworkers recently vacated computer workstation. 'Toxic' person found my messages from a month prior and took their complaint first to me, cussing me out in front of other coworkers, before taking it to a superior who immediately notified HR the next day, Friday. HR consulted the legal team over the weekend and on Monday I was told that I had until the end of the week to find new employment.

Their reasoning was that I had 'slandered' an employee (aka 'toxic' person) and that because I had said these things over the Bonjour internal network it was on their network so they could be liable for my communications.

Now this whole part above, I am aware that there is very little I can do. I was freelance and they are a private company who can choose who to hire / fire at will for any reason. What I am wary about, is future employment opportunities with other businesses. What if people screen my CV, call up this company, and are told the reason for my termination?

In this case, I'd be interested to know a couple things and was hoping anyone on here could help me figure it out.

1.) is what I did legally 'slanderous'?
2.) if not slanderous, what kind of liability do they have if they are telling any of my future employers that I slandered someone?
3.) how would I be able to find out if this is even taking place?
4.) is it legal to discuss reasons for termination in detail?


Thank you in advance to whomever reads this and can help me out!

 

[quincy]

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


Hello everyone,
I was freelancing for a company earlier this year. One coworker had a 'toxic' personality and I remarked on it to another coworker over Instant Message (I had said other not so nice things as well, but nothing vile or profanely derogatory). One month later, on a Wednesday, the coworker who received the messages was fired for another reason, which required the 'toxic' person to cover the phone at the fired coworker's desk. Thursday, 'Toxic' person proceeded to go through the fired coworkers recently vacated computer workstation. 'Toxic' person found my messages from a month prior and took their complaint first to me, cussing me out in front of other coworkers, before taking it to a superior who immediately notified HR the next day, Friday. HR consulted the legal team over the weekend and on Monday I was told that I had until the end of the week to find new employment.

Their reasoning was that I had 'slandered' an employee (aka 'toxic' person) and that because I had said these things over the Bonjour internal network it was on their network so they could be liable for my communications.

Now this whole part above, I am aware that there is very little I can do. I was freelance and they are a private company who can choose who to hire / fire at will for any reason. What I am wary about, is future employment opportunities with other businesses. What if people screen my CV, call up this company, and are told the reason for my termination?

In this case, I'd be interested to know a couple things and was hoping anyone on here could help me figure it out.

1.) is what I did legally 'slanderous'?
2.) if not slanderous, what kind of liability do they have if they are telling any of my future employers that I slandered someone?
3.) how would I be able to find out if this is even taking place?
4.) is it legal to discuss reasons for termination in detail?


Thank you in advance to whomever reads this and can help me out!

If you injured the reputation of the "toxic" person with the words you wrote, then what you wrote could potentially be considered libelous (slander is libel's oral equivalent). Not only will the exact words communicated matter, context also matters.

If future employers are told you libeled someone, that may or may not be true. Again, exactly what you wrote determines whether what you wrote is defamatory. Your recent employer can tell future employers that you sent a questionable email about another employee, though.

There are ways to find out what your former employer is saying about you to prospective employers. One way I have heard of is to have someone pose as a prospective employer and call your former employer for a reference. The odds are pretty good that your former employer will not mention anything about the derogatory/defamatory email. Employers are generally pretty careful in what they say when providing information about former employees.

There is nothing illegal about discussing in detail the reasons for an employee's termination, as long as what is said is true or pure opinion (does not imply anything false). Smart employers, however, will not do this.

In the future, I recommend you are very careful what you say about others, especially when the communication takes place on company-owned equipment.

Good luck.