A definate case of Libel/tortious Interference with Business?

[Random123]

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

I am inquiring about possible representation in a personal Libel suit I would like to bring against M. XXX and his company, a business that operates in Albuquerque and Colorado Springs, CO. I had asked Mr. XXX to come and place a bid to remove junk for the self storage facilities I am employed to oversee. Mr. XXX was late to the appointment and I was unable to wait longer than twenty minutes past the agreed upon time, and through communications through an employee explained that we would reschedule. This apparently did not sit well with Mr. XXX, and the next day he sends the owner of the properties I oversee an email posing as a possible buyer. In this email he describes the facility as dysfunctional and then goes on to fabricate a story about his associate who came out during business hours only to find the leasing office closed and no one responding to repeated calls for assistance. This is a very serious matter to both the owner and myself, and before I was able to figure out that it was the same person and sent from the same email as the Mr. XXX that had missed the meeting the day before, I was facing possibly having to fire a loyal employee and being possibly fired, definitely demoted. Since I reside in the Residential Manager's apartment, this would have meant that I would have been homeless as well. It still has cost me well over twenty man hours of company time trying to reach some sort of satisfactory resolution to this willful attempt to disrupt the business I am employed to oversee. It has also cost me a great amount of embarrassment because I am ultimately responsible for contacting Mr. XXX and for exposing the business to him and his company. He has used the owner's business email to communicate racial slurs towards the owner, and they would be laughable in their ignorance if the malice wasn't so apparent and threatening. I have attempted to communicate the seriousness of this issue to the office in Colorado Springs and the conversation I had with his brother, the owner, was less than productive. I ended the conversation after he started "daring" me to try to defend myself and seek recompense for the damage his employee has done and continues to do. I have had to have very uncomfortable conversations with the owner about the safety of his businesses and his family because of the racial comments. With good reason, he is bothered by the indisputable fact that I have, accidentally or not, exposed himself and his business to Mr. XXX. This has caused me emotional distress, and caused the owner to questions my decisions a bit more than he would have otherwise. As well, before I was able to figure out that the "potential buyer" email was actually from the same Mr. XXX, the owner had sent it, via email, to myself and my direct Lead Operations Manager (ie my direct boss) G McXXX, asking for an explanation. I feel this has done damage to my reputation with him and impugns on the image of my ability to manage the expected task of simply hiring a subcontractor to do needed work. This is a task I have managed several time I assure you, until I met Mr. XXX. I do not know what can be done about the serious attack on my professional reputation, but everything is documented in email and I can prove through phone records and video recordings that he fabricated the story about the associate with the willful intent to cause severe harm to my reputation and livelihood. I don''t feel that this is right, and I am willing to defend myself and seek recompense for the damages done if this is a case worthy of the courts time.

 

[Proserpina]

The site doesn't provide referrals, I'm sorry.

 

[HomeGuru]

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

I am inquiring about possible representation in a personal Libel suit I would like to bring against M. XXX and his company, a business that operates in Albuquerque and Colorado Springs, CO. I had asked Mr. XXX to come and place a bid to remove junk for the self storage facilities I am employed to oversee. Mr. XXX was late to the appointment and I was unable to wait longer than twenty minutes past the agreed upon time, and through communications through an employee explained that we would reschedule. This apparently did not sit well with Mr. XXX, and the next day he sends the owner of the properties I oversee an email posing as a possible buyer. In this email he describes the facility as dysfunctional and then goes on to fabricate a story about his associate who came out during business hours only to find the leasing office closed and no one responding to repeated calls for assistance. This is a very serious matter to both the owner and myself, and before I was able to figure out that it was the same person and sent from the same email as the Mr. XXX that had missed the meeting the day before, I was facing possibly having to fire a loyal employee and being possibly fired, definitely demoted. Since I reside in the Residential Manager's apartment, this would have meant that I would have been homeless as well. It still has cost me well over twenty man hours of company time trying to reach some sort of satisfactory resolution to this willful attempt to disrupt the business I am employed to oversee. It has also cost me a great amount of embarrassment because I am ultimately responsible for contacting Mr. XXX and for exposing the business to him and his company. He has used the owner's business email to communicate racial slurs towards the owner, and they would be laughable in their ignorance if the malice wasn't so apparent and threatening. I have attempted to communicate the seriousness of this issue to the office in Colorado Springs and the conversation I had with his brother, the owner, was less than productive. I ended the conversation after he started "daring" me to try to defend myself and seek recompense for the damage his employee has done and continues to do. I have had to have very uncomfortable conversations with the owner about the safety of his businesses and his family because of the racial comments. With good reason, he is bothered by the indisputable fact that I have, accidentally or not, exposed himself and his business to Mr. XXX. This has caused me emotional distress, and caused the owner to questions my decisions a bit more than he would have otherwise. As well, before I was able to figure out that the "potential buyer" email was actually from the same Mr. XXX, the owner had sent it, via email, to myself and my direct Lead Operations Manager (ie my direct boss) G McXXX, asking for an explanation. I feel this has done damage to my reputation with him and impugns on the image of my ability to manage the expected task of simply hiring a subcontractor to do needed work. This is a task I have managed several time I assure you, until I met Mr. XXX. I do not know what can be done about the serious attack on my professional reputation, but everything is documented in email and I can prove through phone records and video recordings that he fabricated the story about the associate with the willful intent to cause severe harm to my reputation and livelihood. I don''t feel that this is right, and I am willing to defend myself and seek recompense for the damages done if this is a case worthy of the courts time.

**A: are the names fictitious to protect the alleged guilty parties?

 

[Random123]

The names have been changed now. Sorry about that, but honestly I would welcome an attempt to bring a libel suit against me for what I had posted. It's not defamation if it's true, and I can prove everything claimed with written, time-stamped emails, and video recordings.

I realize that this site doesn't provide referrals. I am using this same, detailed, account of the incident to seek representation locally. Please ignore the request for representation, I am really more interested in the members thought and opinions about what has occurred.

Thanks to all posters for your help.

 

[Proserpina]

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

What damages have you suffered?

 

[quincy]

Random123, it is possible you have a defamation action you can pursue, and it is possible that the owner of the storage facility, whose operations you oversee, has a tortious interference with business action he could pursue, but determining if there is ANY lawsuit that can be brought by ANYone would require a careful review of the email that was sent to the owner (and forwarded to your supervising manager), the phone records you have, and the video recordings (did you mean AUDIO recordings?) you made, as well as a thorough review of the reasons behind the sending of the email.

You should also be able to show evidence that the communications received by the owner of your facility and your supervising manager, sent from the Colorado business owner/associate/phony buyer/emailer, injured your reputation and harmed your position with your storage facility company.

For all of this, you need an attorney in your area. You can click on the "Find an Attorney" message at the bottom of these posts, or use the "Find an Attorney in your Area" box to the right, or use the Yellow Pages or New Mexico's State Bar to locate an attorney who can assist you.

You will need, for any defamation action, proof that what was said in the email is false. Is it possible that the other business owner or his associate arrived for the scheduled appointment (albeit late) and that no one was in the leasing office when he arrived? Is it possible that the message about rescheduling the appointment did not get communicated to the owner or his associate prior to arrival for the appointment? Is your business located in Albuquerque? Was the business owner/associate flying into your facility's area (Albuquerque?) from Colorado Springs, whereby a 20 minute late arrival to an appointment could or should be expected or excused?

If these are possible, then the email to the owner of the storage facility could potentially be seen as true or substantially true and, therefore, not defamatory. "Dysfunctional," in this context, could be viewed as opinion based on the emailer's experience at the storage facility.

Because it is true that you ARE responsible for the contact your storage facility has had with this other business, and this contact has resulted in problems for your employer, your employer seems to have legitimate reason to question your judgment.

As for the racial slurs, they must be examined in their context to determine if they are free speech (although derogatory free speech), or whether they cross into hate speech or defamation.

Any threats that have been made should be looked at to determine if the threats are ones that require police attention.

Whether any of what you have here is worth your time, or a court's time, is dependent, then, on a review of all of the facts and evidence. This review is best accomplished through a consultation with an attorney in your area.

Good luck.

 

[Random123]

As stated this has caused damage to my professional reputation with both the owner of the company and my direct supervisor. I personally have been unable to sleep well and have had almost no appetite since this has occurred. I have made appointments with a mental health worker to attempt to ease these symptoms. My work has suffered because of having to deal with this guy's unmitigated attacks. My ability to do my job as expected has falsely been brought into question. If your asking about real monetary damages this guy caused, then I have lost work productivity worth $6,000.00 from having to stop what I normally do and deal with this guy's threatening behavior. The employee whom he also defamed and was fired before I was able to show that everything was fabricated, was extremely upset since she suddenly found herself supporting three children with no job. I am not able to establish a monetary value for the amount of severe emotional turmoil his actions have caused. I can establish that he was willfully malicious and his intent was to irrevocably damage my position in the company, and cost me my livelihood.

 

[Random123]

@quincy- Thank you for the advice. To clarify the situation then, My employee WAS on the property when he showed up (late) for the appointment. He called the number posted on the door letting people know that the office IS open and to call said number for assistance. My employee answered the call and returned to the leasing office to provide assistance. I spoke with the guy, over the phone, while he was in the leasing office and explained that we would have to reschedule. There is no chance of any "misunderstanding" because he was INSIDE the office (verified by video recording) and spoke with me about rescheduling. As far as whether the use of the term "dysfunctional" was Libel, the facility in questions has been referred to in bank appraisals, and by real estate agents representing potential buyers as "A Model Facility". The fact that he POSED as a buyer in his email points directly to the fact that his statements were made with the intent of causing me harm and defaming my good work. He LIED, and it is provable beyond any doubt that he lied, using phone records and video recordings that are time-stamped. His comments to the owner are defamatory whether he is offering an opinion or not because he knowingly lied and fabricated a story. His intention, because he felt the need to fabricate the story about an associate, is clearly malicious and meant to at the very least create discord within the company.
So...we have a guy who fabricated a story that casts serious dispersion on my ability to perform my job. He send this story, under the false pretense of being interested in purchasing the property, to the owner. The owner, before I'm able to clear my name, demands an explanation and disciplinary actions, costing a loyal employee to be fired and myself to be demoted and made homeless. After I am able to clear the matter up with the owner, the owner replies back to this persons email, in a polite, cordial manner letting him know he is not interested in doing business, this guy responds back with a racial slur (raghead), which cause the owner distress because now some racist has his personal email and is obviously unstable. I don't see how any lawyer would be able to spin this in such a way that this guy is not blatantly guilty of Libel and causing severe emotional distress. I hope this clears up any lingering questions that might have arisen from my previous post.

 

[quincy]

Thanks for adding the additional information, Random123.

Without a review of the email and without the ability to examine all of the facts and "evidence," it is impossible to say whether you have a defamation or tortious interference action that could be successfully brought against the emailer. It is definitely a possibility, and one that you could, and perhaps should, explore with an attorney in your area.

In New Mexico, you have a 3 year statute of limitations on defamation actions, so there is time for you to see what sort of effect this email has on your employment and on your reputation both in and out of work.

As for the racial slur used in the email sent to your boss, the use of the word "raghead," in most contexts, is not defamatory. When used to describe a person, raghead is a derogatory term. The use of a racial slur by a person is not clear evidence that a person is a racist - although the use of a racial slur by a person can often indicate that the person using it is uninformed, ignorant or uneducated. . . . . .or a comedian.

When racial slurs or derogatory words are used in an obscene, violent or threatening way (fighting words), their use can be judged illegal. Otherwise, most derogatory terms and racial slurs are protected by the First Amendment (again, depending on context).

Emotional distress is extremely difficult to prove. For damages to be awarded for an emotional distress injury, the conduct causing the distress must be SO extreme and SO outrageous that it goes beyond all bounds of decency and would be intolerable to an ordinary person. Your emotional distress, while obviously distressing to you emotionally, does not appear to meet the "extreme and outrageous" conditions necessary for such a claim to be successful.

While I do not see the "blatant" libel that you are seeing (and I don't see a claim for emotional distress), it is entirely possible you have an action worth pursuing, and for that reason I suggest you run your facts and evidence by an attorney for a review. What will be most important is what exactly was said in the email, what was believed by your employer, and what repercussions were felt by you that can be tied directly to what was said (and not directly tied to the fact you involved your storage facility with this character in the first place).