Defamation/Discrimination?

[12369]

What is the name of your state? MA
I have had an ongoing issue (5+ mos) with a local home center. regarding faulty installation of a laminate floor. For months on end various employees dealt with us trying to resolve the issue, each time the buck was passed to another because of their self-proclaimed lack of knowledge of the product.
Eventually we called the General Manager and for almost 2 weeks were not able to reach him. Each day leaving message to call us.
Again having enough I now called the owner/CEO of the 107 year old company. Called daily for approx. 10 business days, each time leaving message to call us - no call.
Next I went directly to the home office where the owner has office. While in meeting with him he told me to "Shut-up" at least twice, threatened to call 911 to remove me from his office, and told me he didn't need "some God Damn Female arguing" with him in his office.
The entire time I persisted to state my case and tell him the problems we were having with the product and the poor customer relations handled by the GM. Through all the insulting remarks I continued to be respectful. His secretary was present during the meeting taking notes.
Do I have recourse for a defamation/slander suit?

 

[Bravo8]

How does this qualify as Criminal?




Oh, I'd say he didn't slander you. Slander requires that he said it, it wasn't true, and it caused you some harm.

 

[12369]

It is not criminal. I looked for the correct area to post and this is what I assumed to be the correct one since it said "other"
Perhaps you could direct me to the correct area. None seemed to match.

And slander actually means to cause aspersion or to defame and/or to critisize causing harm. And trust me, if I told the whole lengthy story leading up to this meeting it would be shocking to say the least how my husband & I have been treated. At this same meeting I was accused of harrassing 15 people at the store. When in fact it was they who forced me to deal with someone new every few weeks because of their lack of knowledge and them passing it on to someone else. There have actually been 6 different people at the store that we have dealt with. And I find it highly unlikey that calling daily and usually leaving messages for a return call would be classified as harrassment.
The owner who made the comments is a older man (late 70's - 80's) and I have no doubt he was discriminating against me as a female having control over the meeting. Because of how the store has treated us and for so very long, no one will speak with us at the store and we certainly would never spend another dime at this company. Unfortunate because we live in an area where this is the only option for this type of shopping. We have photos documenting the poorly installed floor and they will not even look at it. Anyway, that info regarding the ongoing isswue does not belong at this site. I will post that elsewhere.

 

[JETX]

"Do I have recourse for a defamation/slander suit?"
*** No.

In the future, I suggest when you have a service problem like this with a company, don't try to resolve it by phone calls. Send a letter. I am certainly not excusing their actions, but phone calls can easily be overlooked and are often disregarded as 'not serious'.

 

[12369]

Absolutely sent many a letter, emails and phone calls.

 

[stephenk]

so sue them in small claims court if the amount is less than the small claim limits. if a much larger dollar amount, consult with an attorney. The attorney may send out a letter that will get their attention.

File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

Did they install the floor? Make a claim against the installer's bond. Make a complaint through the state's contractor's board.

 

[Bravo8]

As for the slander issue...........

I wasn't attempting to define "Slander", I was explaining the elements needed to prove it.

1. You must prove that the person said it.
2. You must prove it was not true.
3. You must prove it harmed you in some way (lost job, husband, some other financial harm, etc)

 

[cbg]

And I've always understood that there was yet another element:

You must prove that the person knew it was not true.

 

[hgrego1015]

I agree with Stephenk:

Small claims court is the answer. It is beyond me why someone would go this far. Just go down to your local court and file the proper paperwork for mediation. You have worked yourself into a pissing match with this company. It should have been evident long before the meeting with the president that you were getting nowhere.