Can I sue for slander?

[rea]

What is the name of your state? Indiana

Hello I am going to try and sum it up quickly. A relative of mine was having a relationship with an employee at work nothing major sexual comments fondeling. The fondeling of her was allowed by her and she never complained about the other stuff. Until lately she has been in financial distress which she has made public by telling us that she is getting late fees on her house payments etc. She is threating to sue him for sexual misconduct and her lawyer has sent a letter requesting to settle the case for $225,000 which she says is the difference in what she makes now and what she will make at a different job for 10 years. Anyways the rumor about this misconduct is spreading through town people are asking me about it etc. My question is can she be counter sued for Slander since these accusations are extreamly exagerated and are potentually hurting our business Thanks

 

[Zigner]

You can sue anyone for anything...

With that said - she made a complaint in a court filing...one that MAY have merit (so it's not malicious or abuse of the system). You won't be successful in a defamation suit. (Again, with the caveat that there are not sure things in the world either way)

 

[Quaere]

Anyways the rumor about this misconduct

How has word of her allegations made it to the rumor mill? Any statements she made to her attorney or the court are privileged and you cannot sue her for defamation for THOSE statements.

If she has made false statements to someone else and that communication was not privileged, she could be liable for defamation.

It sounds like the allegations she is making are substantially true. Her statements do not need to be exactly true, they only need to represent the gist of what happened. There is a very fine line between what is true for the purpose of a defamation claim like you propose.

For example, the truth is she and the guy went into the supply closet where they made out. Her allegation is that he FORCED her into the closet and fondled her.

Her allegation is defamatory because “forced” changed the entire context of the statement.

Given the circumstances you’ve presented, unless there are eyewitnesses she would be risking an enormous amount of money to pursue a claim.

If you could somehow prove she is suing for the purpose of extortion, she can be countersued for malicious prosecution.

 

[rea]

Update

She hasn't filed anything in court yet, and her lawyer is from out of town so the only way this could have gotten spread was by her telling people Thanks.. And another question if he did decide to sue her would he be better off doing it before or after she were to file? Im thinking after just for the fact that she might sue for more then what she has planned on???

 

[mlane58]

She hasn't filed anything in court yet, and her lawyer is from out of town so the only way this could have gotten spread was by her telling people Thanks.. And another question if he did decide to sue her would he be better off doing it before or after she were to file? Im thinking after just for the fact that she might sue for more then what she has planned on???

Is this woman still employed at the same place as your relative? How many employees are there?

 

[rea]

Update

Yes she is still employeed here and there are about 10-11 employees In the last letter from her attorney it said that she doesn't believe that she can work here any longer and that she would have to settle at a job that pays her less she says she would have to take a job that pays her about 25,000.00 a year less... She only makes about $35,000.00 now? So anything else you guys need let me know Thanks again

 

[Quaere]

Your relative needs to determine how he can prove that this woman has made defamatory statements about him to someone else. If and when he thinks he has enough proof to sue her, he should discuss his options with an attorney experienced in defamation.

The decision of when to file a suit against the woman will be based upon exactly what the defamation victim hopes to accomplish by filing suit.