Cease and desist/defamation

[Omiacha]

Hi, I have a question pertaining to defamation and if we have any legal options to make it stop. I live in a small town of around 4,000 people. My family owns a small local business. My father also serves on the town's city council and has done so for nearly 30 years. Over the past year a man, angry with the city, has created a Facebook group now with over 700 people that he uses to defame the city and make false claims. He attacks the mayor, city clerk, city council, fire chief, even the city attorney, and other city officials as being corrupt and breaking the law. All of this culminating in this angry (unemployed) man making an unsuccessful run for mayor this past election. It has been clear to me for a long time that all along his goal was to make a "stink" in hopes of drumming up enough votes to get elected to office so he can have a job and get a nice paycheck. Regardless of his motives this brings me to my problem. My father has been a life long servant in this community and goes far beyond what any one person should to do to try and help make it a better place to live. Being the good man my father is he was the first person to go to this man when he first started showing up at council meetings claiming of crimes being committed. My father went to him and listened to him talk for several hours to try and get to the bottom of things and if there is wrong doing then take appropriate action. However, this angry man for some reason has now been targeting my father with horrible lies that he is stealing from the city and misappropriating funds as well as covering up crimes by other city officials. All of these are ludicrous lies of a bitter little man and we have ignored them for many months now. Unfortunately, the man has grown a large audience with his Facebook group and has undoubtedly made some of them believe his lies. This has harmed my fathers good name and in turn has damaged our business causing us to lose customers. Our family is suffering because of one mans lies and slander. I am trying to find out if we have any legal recourse in this matter? I am not looking to sue for damages because the man couldn't pay even if he was prosecuted. I simply want the man to stop making up lies and causing undue stress to my father, my mother, and his business. Can you sue to have this removed? Can an attorney send a cease and desist notice? I know freedom of speech makes it virtually impossible to do anything but surely there is some action that can be taken. How can one petty man be able to destroy good hard working people's reputations without any recourse? Thank you for taking the time to read and comment.

 

[Shadowbunny]

I'm sorry, this forum is for US law only.

 

[quincy]

Hi, I have a question pertaining to defamation and if we have any legal options to make it stop. I live in a small town of around 4,000 people. My family owns a small local business. My father also serves on the town's city council and has done so for nearly 30 years. Over the past year a man, angry with the city, has created a Facebook group now with over 700 people that he uses to defame the city and make false claims. He attacks the mayor, city clerk, city council, fire chief, even the city attorney, and other city officials as being corrupt and breaking the law. All of this culminating in this angry (unemployed) man making an unsuccessful run for mayor this past election. It has been clear to me for a long time that all along his goal was to make a "stink" in hopes of drumming up enough votes to get elected to office so he can have a job and get a nice paycheck. Regardless of his motives this brings me to my problem. My father has been a life long servant in this community and goes far beyond what any one person should to do to try and help make it a better place to live. Being the good man my father is he was the first person to go to this man when he first started showing up at council meetings claiming of crimes being committed. My father went to him and listened to him talk for several hours to try and get to the bottom of things and if there is wrong doing then take appropriate action. However, this angry man for some reason has now been targeting my father with horrible lies that he is stealing from the city and misappropriating funds as well as covering up crimes by other city officials. All of these are ludicrous lies of a bitter little man and we have ignored them for many months now. Unfortunately, the man has grown a large audience with his Facebook group and has undoubtedly made some of them believe his lies. This has harmed my fathers good name and in turn has damaged our business causing us to lose customers. Our family is suffering because of one mans lies and slander. I am trying to find out if we have any legal recourse in this matter? I am not looking to sue for damages because the man couldn't pay even if he was prosecuted. I simply want the man to stop making up lies and causing undue stress to my father, my mother, and his business. Can you sue to have this removed? Can an attorney send a cease and desist notice? I know freedom of speech makes it virtually impossible to do anything but surely there is some action that can be taken. How can one petty man be able to destroy good hard working people's reputations without any recourse? Thank you for taking the time to read and comment.

Defamation laws vary in significant ways from state to state. What is the name of your state, Omiacha?

A cease and desist letter is often a good first step to take, to inform someone that they are crossing a legal line with their published comments and straying into defamation territory.

 

[Zigner]

Here in the US - sure, an attorney can send a cease and desist, but you need to think about it...how will this stop the guy? A cease and desist, in and of itself, has no force of law and no direct penalty for not complying. I predict that the letter will end up in the trash after only having thrown fuel on the fire. If you have no intention to sue the guy, then you're really stuck.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

"We" have no recourse because you don't seem to be legally involved. Letters can be written, suits can be filed.

If any of that is effective will depend on what is actually being said/written. I'd have your father or one of the damaged parties call that lawyer you want to write the letter.

 

[Zigner]

"We" have no recourse because you don't seem to be legally involved. Letters can be written, suits can be filed.

If any of that is effective will depend on what is actually being said/written. I'd have your father or one of the damaged parties call that lawyer you want to write the letter.

The business may have recourse if one of the owners of the business has been defamed as it relates to his business. I'm thinking along the lines of this guy saying that the dad is using the business to commit crimes.

 

[quincy]

It is possible that your father would be considered a public figure in your community which would mean that for any defamation suit he would have to prove the cantankerous man has acted with actual malice (publishing knowingly false statements with an intent to cause harm). This might not be a huge hurdle for your father to leap given what you have said but it can make for a more complicated lawsuit.

Your father can speak to an attorney in your area who is well-versed in defamation law and show the attorney what has been published (and the purported reasons for the publications). The attorney can advise him on the pros and cons of filing suit.

Again, your state name is important if you want some information on the defamation laws specific to your state.

 

[Zigner]

It is possible that your father would be considered a public figure in your community which would mean that for any defamation suit he would have to prove the cantankerous man has acted with actual malice (publishing knowingly false statements with an intent to cause harm). This might not be a huge hurdle for your father to leap given what you have said but it can make for a more complicated lawsuit.

Your father can speak to an attorney in your area who is well-versed in defamation law and show the attorney what has been published (and the purported reasons for the publications). The attorney can advise him on the pros and cons of filing suit.

Again, your state name is important if you want some information on the defamation laws specific to your state.

The OP isn't going to sue because the guy has no money.

 

[quincy]

The OP isn't going to sue because the guy has no money.

Right now, at any rate.

Judgments last a long time.

Facebook can be contacted to have defamatory material removed.

 

[Zigner]

I agree that Facebook can be contacted, but the chanc of political commentary such as has been described being removed is very low.

Of course, as has been pointed out by you and others, we don't even know if this is occurring in the US, so our information may not even be relevant

 

[Omiacha]

The state is Arkansas. I did not know a Cease and desist letter has no legal authority. Thank you for informing me. The business is my fathers business. It is how my family makes a living. This mans slander is not toward the business it is toward my father as a public official. My fathers job is in the business and the lies are causing his business to lose customers thus causing the family to lose income. I simply want the man to stop making up lies and false accusations. It sounds like to do that you would need to sue. The reason I said we did not want to sue was strictly for some sort of settlement. The man could not pay any legal fine/settlement that could be assessed to him. I simply was hoping that a court could legally force him to stop making the statements or face some kind of legal punishment.

 

[Omiacha]

Right now, at any rate.

Judgments last a long time.

Facebook can be contacted to have defamatory material removed.

Thank you, I will look into that further. I have tried to use the report function for the Facebook group however there is not an option for slander/defamation. Today, the man wrote a 1200 word post solely directed at my father saying he has stolen from the city which is an absolute fabrication. The man can produce zero documentation to support his claims as with most of his statements he makes. However, he is very good at manipulating his followers and twisting statements. I have made screenshots of today's post to show an attorney if we choose to go that route.

 

[quincy]

The state is Arkansas. I did not know a Cease and desist letter has no legal authority. Thank you for informing me. The business is my fathers business. It is how my family makes a living. This mans slander is not toward the business it is toward my father as a public official. My fathers job is in the business and the lies are causing his business to lose customers thus causing the family to lose income. I simply want the man to stop making up lies and false accusations. It sounds like to do that you would need to sue. The reason I said we did not want to sue was strictly for some sort of settlement. The man could not pay any legal fine/settlement that could be assessed to him. I simply was hoping that a court could legally force him to stop making the statements or face some kind of legal punishment.

Thank you for providing your state name.

A cease and desist letter is only a letter that warns of possible repercussions if specific activity is not ceased. The letter is more effective if coming from an attorney's office because the recipient of such a letter knows then that an attorney has been contacted and legal action is being considered.

Here is a link* (doesn't work yet but I will try to fix it) to what is required to succeed with a defamation claim:
https://govt.westlaw.com/armji/Document/Ib7a935c2053f11db9346b0b8bf67faf0?viewType=FullText&originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=CategoryPageItem&contextData=(sc.Default)

Arkansas does not recognize "per se" defamation under which false accusations of criminal activity would generally fall. Instead, any claims of defamation must be supported with evidence of harm (e.g., loss of income).

 

[Omiacha]

Thank you for providing your state name.

A cease and desist letter is only a letter that warns of possible repercussions if specific activity is not ceased. The letter is more effective if coming from an attorney's office because the recipient of such a letter knows then that an attorney has been contacted and legal action is being considered.

Here is a link* (doesn't work yet but I will try to fix it) to what is required to succeed with a defamation claim:
https://govt.westlaw.com/armji/Document/lb7a935c2053f11db9346b0b8bf67faf0?viewType=FullText&originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=CategoryPageItem&contextData=(sc.Default)

Arkansas does not recognize "per se" defamation under which false accusations of criminal activity would generally fall. Instead, any claims of defamation must be supported with evidence of harm (e.g., loss of income).

Thank you I will look into that link. "loss of income" will be difficult if not impossible to prove I would imagine. Kind of hard to prove customers are not coming to your business because of the rantings of a lunatic. I appreciate the quick responses. Before we paid an attorney for their time/services I wanted to try and figure out if there was any chance of seeing a positive outcome first.

One last question...I forgot to mention this guy hired an attorney a few months back in an attempt to sue the city (yes while running to be the mayor lol) for some perceived wrong doing. This attorney is a real sleazebag. He loves suing cities and has a long track record of it. It is not likely his lawsuit is going to be very successful so far the best they can come up with is "well your city clerk did not send my client his FOIA requests in a timely manner". Getting to my question...if we were to go the cease and desist route would we hire an attorney to send that letter to his attorney?

 

[quincy]

Thank you I will look into that link. "loss of income" will be difficult if not impossible to prove I would imagine. Kind of hard to prove customers are not coming to your business because of the rantings of a lunatic. I appreciate the quick responses. Before we paid an attorney for their time/services I wanted to try and figure out if there was any chance of seeing a positive outcome first.

One last question...I forgot to mention this guy hired an attorney a few months back in an attempt to sue the city (yes while running to be the mayor lol) for some perceived wrong doing. This attorney is a real sleazebag. He loves suing cities and has a long track record of it. It is not likely his lawsuit is going to be very successful so far the best they can come up with is "well your city clerk did not send my client his FOIA requests in a timely manner". Getting to my question...if we were to go the cease and desist route would we hire an attorney to send that letter to his attorney?

Your father's attorney will probably want to send the cease and desist letter to the fellow directly. The fellow can then contact his own attorney.

Your dad must be able to show he has suffered harm to his reputation. This does not have to be a demonstrated out-of-pocket monetary loss. Economic harm is often the easiest to show but any harm to his reputation can be used to support a lawsuit (shunning by members of the community, loss of friends or customers, ridicule...). Testimony from those who heard/read the false statements and believed them true and/or who regard your father differently as a result of the statements can be used as proof of injury to his reputation.