Work place defamation/

[Altredav44]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Mo.A co worker filed a false statement with division of children's services which could have had me terminated and but on the black list registry for child neglect. Luckily my employer and state investigator seen through what she was doing and I was cleared. She tried to get another co-worker to lie and support her allegations and the co worker refused. Is this a defamation case? I am an assistant teacher at a preschool and also the mother of a 12 year old. Had I not been cleared, it would have had a dramatic impact on my life. Help

 

[cbg]

You can't sue for what could have happened but didn't. You have no damages. No damages, no case.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Mo.A co worker filed a false statement with division of children's services which could have had me terminated and but on the black list registry for child neglect. Luckily my employer and state investigator seen through what she was doing and I was cleared. She tried to get another co-worker to lie and support her allegations and the co worker refused. Is this a defamation case? I am an assistant teacher at a preschool and also the mother of a 12 year old. Had I not been cleared, it would have had a dramatic impact on my life. Help

You were cleared though, right, so there has been no dramatic impact on your life?

Certainly lies of the sort told by your coworker can be damaging. Statements that are made to CPS, however, are protected by a qualified privilege, the privilege of which exists so that people are not afraid to report suspicions of wrongdoing for fear of defaming a person and being sued. These type of statements, in addition to being privileged, are also not considered true or false until an investigation determines they have some merit.

When the other coworker was approached and asked to support the allegations, what allegations exactly was she asked to support?

 

[I'mTheFather]

If the investigation determined that the accusations were malicious or intentionally false, I would ask that a report be filed:

https://dss.mo.gov/cd/info/cwmanual/section2/ch4/sec2ch4sub3_10.htm

Also, if you were unable to work for an extended period of time during the investigation, and were not paid, I believe you do have damages. However, the cost to sue would outweigh the benefits of winning the suit. Quincy will correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[quincy]

If the investigation determined that the accusations were malicious or intentionally false, I would ask that a report be filed:

https://dss.mo.gov/cd/info/cwmanual/section2/ch4/sec2ch4sub3_10.htm

Also, if you were unable to work for an extended period of time during the investigation, and were not paid, I believe you do have damages. However, the cost to sue would outweigh the benefits of winning the suit. Quincy will correct me if I'm wrong.

I find nothing to correct.

Here is a direct link to the Child Welfare Manual you provided, though, for ease of access. Really good information.

https://dss.mo.gov/cd/info/cwmanual/section2/ch4/sec2ch4sub3_10.htm

The other coworker who was approached and asked to support the allegations could potentially provide support for claims that the report was filed with actual malice, depending on what was communicated.

Any time lies are told that affect one's employment, a defamation suit is something to consider but, yes, these tend to be costly suits and they can cause their own type of harm to a plaintiff's reputation.

 

[Altredav44]

You were cleared though, right, so there has been no dramatic impact on your life?

Certainly lies of the sort told by your coworker can be damaging. Statements that are made to CPS, however, are protected by a qualified privilege, the privilege of which exists so that people are not afraid to report suspicions of wrongdoing for fear of defaming a person and being sued. These type of statements, in addition to being privileged, are also not considered true or false until an investigation determines they have some merit.

When the other coworker was approached and asked to support the allegations, what allegations exactly was she asked to support?

She told my co worker that she was trying to get me fired. I know the report and hot line call to cps is privileged, but she also filled out an incident report on the job with the same lies in it. She even put in her incident report that when I brought the child back in from outside that I told the child's mother that the went outside and must have left the door open and he must have slipped out without me knowing. The child's mother was questioned and told that this conversation never happened.

 

[quincy]

She told my co worker that she was trying to get me fired. I know the report and hot line call to cps is privileged, but she also filled out an incident report on the job with the same lies in it. She even put in her incident report that when I brought the child back in from outside that I told the child's mother that the went outside and must have left the door open and he must have slipped out without me knowing. The child's mother was questioned and told that this conversation never happened.

Telling the coworker that she was trying to get you fired does not necessarily mean she planned to file a false report as a way to do this.

About the incident report that was filled out: Was there an incident where a child under your care slipped and/or was injured?

 

[Altredav44]

Co worker

Telling the coworker that she was trying to get you fired does not necessarily mean she planned to file a false report as a way to do this.

About the incident report that was filled out: Was there an incident where a child under your care slipped and/or was injured?

Here is what happened(short form). There are 3 co worker friends who do not like me .why is another story. Anyway a child's mom came to pick him up from the classroom. He is 4. Mom stopped to talk with another teacher and get the sign him out.the chil stayed by the door instead of following his mom so I walked over to him and told him to go with his mom and get his coat. He smiled and opened the classroom door and walked to front door. I repeated to him to go in with his mom. He proceeded to walk out the front door and head for his mom's car. I followed telling him to come back. He climbed in the back door of moms car.I convinced him to come back inside with me. The coworker that filed report, the boys mom and another co-worker were right inside the door as we entered. The mom apologized and I said it is OK. He got in his carseat and I asked if he would walk me back across the ice to I wouldn't fall. That's all that helped d. In the following thread I will tell you what the co worker said happened

 

[Altredav44]

Co worker

Here is what happened(short form). There are 3 co worker friends who do not like me .why is another story. Anyway a child's mom came to pick him up from the classroom. He is 4. Mom stopped to talk with another teacher and get the sign him out.the chil stayed by the door instead of following his mom so I walked over to him and told him to go with his mom and get his coat. He smiled and opened the classroom door and walked to front door. I repeated to him to go in with his mom. He proceeded to walk out the front door and head for his mom's car. I followed telling him to come back. He climbed in the back door of moms car.I convinced him to come back inside with me. The coworker that filed report, the boys mom and another co-worker were right inside the door as we entered. The mom apologized and I said it is OK. He got in his carseat and I asked if he would walk me back across the ice to I wouldn't fall. That's all that helped d. In the following thread I will tell you what the co worker said happened

Now what the co worker reported was that the boys mom was looking for him because he was lost. (Not true. His mom knew where he was and said she was not looking for him. She wrote that she asked a co worker where I was and co worker said "she went to " find" the child"( again implying he was lost. She said she saw front door was standing open.( our door shuts automatically, it can't stand open. She wrote she observed me and the child coming in front door and that I told the mom that I went outside and left the front door open and he must have slipped out with out me knowing. ( I NEVER told mom this at all because it didn't happen. Mom stated that this conversation never took place and that she knew her son was never lost or unsupervised by me. She asked the other co worker to say the same thing to investigators to help get me fired and that co worker told me.

 

[quincy]

Thank you for the further explanation.

So, essentially, you told the child to go with his mother but instead the child walked out of your classroom and walked out the front door and into the parking lot by himself, and you had to go outside to retrieve him. In addition, the parking lot was icy.

Everything else is really not that important.

I do not see that what the coworker said in her report is all that far off from what happened. The 4 year old was unsupervised to the extent that he was able to make it out of the building, into the parking lot and into his mother's car before anyone stopped him.

For a defamation claim in Missouri, you need to prove actual damages. From what you have written, I do not see that you have suffered any damages and I am not convinced that anything said or written about you was defamatory.

You can consult with an attorney in your area but I do not see that you have a claim against your coworker.