Potentially being sued for libel

[Scaredandworry]

I live in PA, I was recently fired from my job for something stupid I did. I was ashamed of why I was fired so I made up a different reason that sounded much better and when my coworkers at my other part time job asked what happened I told them the lie. I know it was wrong and I shouldn’t have done that, but I was ashamed, and I should have been.
Fast forward to today, I get a call from the employer that fired me, I sent it to voice mail. I open the voicemail and it’s my former boss telling me that they “heard from one of your current coworkers that You was fired for a false reason and we both know that’s not true, you need to please stop lying about our facility or else you know we will sue you for libel.”
Please help me. I only work with 4 people at my job that I talked to. Is my former job actually going to sue me, because I literally have nothing. I haven’t brought up that job or said anything about them in a few weeks and don’t plan on talking about them because I was trying to move forward and forget about the whole thing. Now I’m panicking someone please give me advice.

 

[FlyingRon]

It's easy to threaten libel. It's a bit more involved to actually bring the suit, and prevailing is even harder.

First off, you ex-boss is full of crap. Lying about yourself is never libel. To be libel you must make a statement of fact about someone else (or the corporation) to a third party which you know to be untrue. Second, in most cases, they have to actually show that they were (monetarily) damaged by the statement (there are a few statements that are so odious that the damage is assumed).

I'd just continue to decline to speak to your ex-boss.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

He may if you continue to defame him and his business. I would suggest you stop as he demanded.

 

[quincy]

I live in PA, I was recently fired from my job for something stupid I did. I was ashamed of why I was fired so I made up a different reason that sounded much better and when my coworkers at my other part time job asked what happened I told them the lie. I know it was wrong and I shouldn’t have done that, but I was ashamed, and I should have been.
Fast forward to today, I get a call from the employer that fired me, I sent it to voice mail. I open the voicemail and it’s my former boss telling me that they “heard from one of your current coworkers that You was fired for a false reason and we both know that’s not true, you need to please stop lying about our facility or else you know we will sue you for libel.”
Please help me. I only work with 4 people at my job that I talked to. Is my former job actually going to sue me, because I literally have nothing. I haven’t brought up that job or said anything about them in a few weeks and don’t plan on talking about them because I was trying to move forward and forget about the whole thing. Now I’m panicking someone please give me advice.

There is no way for us to tell you if you will be sued over the lie that you told but your former employer has given you a good way to lessen that possibility. Stop lying about the facility.

 

[Taxing Matters]

It's easy to threaten libel. It's a bit more involved to actually bring the suit, and prevailing is even harder.

First off, you ex-boss is full of crap. Lying about yourself is never libel. To be libel you must make a statement of fact about someone else (or the corporation) to a third party which you know to be untrue.

Evidently his lie about why he was fired involved statements that may be damaging to the former employer. If the lie is ONLY about person speaking it cannot be defamation. But if that lie also involves a false statement about a third person, that third person would have a potentially good defamation claim.

 

[quincy]

As a note, too: It would not be libel but slander if the lie was communicated to others orally. Libel is the written form of defamation.