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can you sue someone for negligence for not stopping defamation?

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sduves

Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? ny
someone made some defamatory statements about me
i reported her to people who I asked to take appropriate action, and who has authority and perhaps responsibility to overlook her conduct (think school official, manager, dean, etc.), but they did not do anything about it. he was aware the situation was serious and that i already tried to resolve things with the person but could not, and that the person would continue her defamatory acts. he did not even pass along the complaint. can i sue the person who was overlooking the conduct of the person who defamed me for "negligence"?

thanks
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Your remedy for defamation is a civil lawsuit. No one else has any sort of legal "obligation" to stop it.
 

sduves

Member
okay, thanks.
so i can list the manager/school official as a co-defendant? or sue them directly?
either is fine?
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
What Zigner is saying is that the only person you can sue is the person who was ACTUALLY defaming you. It is not someone else's responsibility to make them stop.
 

HomeGuru

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? ny
someone made some defamatory statements about me
i reported her to people who I asked to take appropriate action, and who has authority and perhaps responsibility to overlook her conduct (think school official, manager, dean, etc.), but they did not do anything about it. he was aware the situation was serious and that i already tried to resolve things with the person but could not, and that the person would continue her defamatory acts. he did not even pass along the complaint. can i sue the person who was overlooking the conduct of the person who defamed me for "negligence"?

thanks
**A: you can sue anybody you want including Santa Claus. The proper Defendant in this case is the person making the statements.
 

quincy

Senior Member
While it may be true in this case that the only one liable for the defamatory statements made is the one who spoke the defamatory words, that is not true in all cases (think publisher, editor, and a reporter who writes a libelous article ;)).

In addition, defamatory comments repeated can result in a defamation action against a person who chooses to spread defamatory comments.

If the school official, manager, dean, whoever, has some "editorial" control over the comments made by the person defaming sduves, it is possible (maybe not probable, based on what is posted here) that this person could be included legitimately in any defamation action sduves may consider.
 

quincy

Senior Member
There has to be reputational injury for any defamation action to be successful. However, in some states (not all), some words are considered "defamation per se" (defamatory in and of themselves) and reputational injury is presumed.

For instance, if I were to falsely call someone a rapist, there is presumed injury to that person's reputation. The word "rapist," in this case, would be defamatory per se, and the person I called a rapist would not have to prove his reputation was injured by my statement (although other proofs would still need to be met).
 

gramercy

Member
Thank you.
If this individual was demoted or involuntarily transferred based on the defamation, would then the employer be somehow accountable or discriminatory, on the basis of discipline without just cause/investigation, or failure to address the original defamy?
 

You Are Guilty

Senior Member
Thank you.
If this individual was demoted or involuntarily transferred based on the defamation, would then the employer be somehow accountable or discriminatory, on the basis of discipline without just cause/investigation, or failure to address the original defamy?
If you would just explain what the hell you're trying to get at, we can give you an actual answer instead of playing 20 questions.


{edit}
What the hell? This isn't the OP.
 

gramercy

Member
Gee - I'm sorry Your Highness, perhaps I should use smaller words.
I believe that if this individual has been harmed professionally by the defamation, the employer could be held liable.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Gee - I'm sorry Your Highness, perhaps I should use smaller words.
I believe that if this individual has been harmed professionally by the defamation, the employer could be held liable.
And I'm sure you believe in pixies and leprechauns too! That doesn't make it true.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Maybe, but neither does it prove it false.
You're right. You provide proof of a SINGLE leprechaun, and you prove your case.
The laws involved in THIS situation are pretty darn clear. Just as clear as it is that you have no clue.
 

quincy

Senior Member
All defamation harms a reputation, professionally or otherwise, but not all people are responsible for the defamatory comments being made or what results from the defamation.

A lot of times a defamatory statement will lead to a job loss, or economic harm of some sort, in addition to the reputational injury suffered. The legal recourse is, generally, only against the defamer and not those who believed what the defamer said or wrote. Actual damages that occur from a job loss can be awarded to the person defamed with a judgment against the defamer.

In other words, the employer can fire the employee, based on defamatory statements made about the employee by others (and the employer can fire the employee for pretty much any other reason, as well). The employer would still not be held liable for the defamatory comments made by someone else, unless the employer had a level of control over what was said. Again I give the example of a newspaper publisher and an editor of the newspaper, who would both be responsible for the defamatory content of the paper, whether they composed the defamatory material or not. They have the control over it being published and they can, therefore, be sued over its publication.

Most people cannot stop someone from saying something defamatory, though, and most people cannot protect the person defamed from having his reputation injured by the defamatory words said by another.

If I call someone a rapist, and people shun that person because of the comments I made, or if that person's employer fires him because of the comments I made, I would be the only person that could be sued for defamation. I was the one who defamed the person - not those who believed that what I said was true.
 

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