<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by bpmartin:
If a coworker goes around telling other employees i'm stealing do I have any recourse. The other employee is mad because I have removed metal from yhe scrap metal dumpster, which is at our place of work an auto dealership by a local trash collecter.Thereis no contract with this hauler and no money is paid to the co for the metal that is put in the dumpster.The other employee is claiming that I am stealing other used parts from work and selling them. The only parts or metal I have taken are mainly used brake rotors that I use as weight to sink fish cribs in a privite lake. state of wisc.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
My response:
It is my opinion, from your scenario, that the scrap metal has been abandoned. You can't steal that which has been abandoned or has no owner. That it is placed in a trash dumpster is the key to the intent to abandon. However, if the scrap has been "promised" (oral agreement) to someone else, then you should leave it alone. You should check with your employer to make sure that it has not been "promised." But, if the scrap is in the dumpster for anyone to pick up, catch-as-catch-can, then you're okay and tell the other employee to "bite rocks, it's none of your business." If the employee persists, then yes, you can sue for slander.
IAAL
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