Defamation of Character -Strange Case

[pittguy53178]

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

I have been dealing with a psycho ex gf. When I say psycho, I really mean it. I didn't know what I was getting into when I started dating her. She is a compulsive liar and has a criminal rap sheet about 4 pages long-nothing bad i.e. robberty-mostly drug related offenses/duis. I have been trying to get things back from her that were left at her house. She plays games with me. She calls me to tell me to come pick them up, and then she changes her mind or falls off the face of the earth. I do not want to show up unannounced.

I had texted her last night asking her when I can pick up my stuff. This is where it gets bizarre.

I have never used company time or company property to contact her at all.
She contacted my supervisor and made false accusations that I was harassing her on company time and with company equipment. I was off today, and I wasn't sure what the whole story was. Regardless, the allegations are demonstrably false. I have never contacted her on company time or using any company equipment. She has no e-mails sent by me from work because it never happened .I was worried about her mental state and didn't want to take the change. She did it with a malicious intent either to get me fired or mess with my career. A mutual friend that is on twitter to that effect. She was going to e-mail a screen shot to me.

I am not sure what to do here. The allegations are 100% false. She has caused embarrassment to me and possibly did damage to my career.
I don't want money from her. I want her to call and admit she lied and had malicious intent. What would my best course of action be?

 

[George1776]

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

I have been dealing with a psycho ex gf. When I say psycho, I really mean it. I didn't know what I was getting into when I started dating her. She is a compulsive liar and has a criminal rap sheet about 4 pages long-nothing bad i.e. robberty-mostly drug related offenses/duis. I have been trying to get things back from her that were left at her house. She plays games with me. She calls me to tell me to come pick them up, and then she changes her mind or falls off the face of the earth. I do not want to show up unannounced.

I had texted her last night asking her when I can pick up my stuff. This is where it gets bizarre.

I have never used company time or company property to contact her at all.
She contacted my supervisor and made false accusations that I was harassing her on company time and with company equipment. I was off today, and I wasn't sure what the whole story was. Regardless, the allegations are demonstrably false. I have never contacted her on company time or using any company equipment. She has no e-mails sent by me from work because it never happened .I was worried about her mental state and didn't want to take the change. She did it with a malicious intent either to get me fired or mess with my career. A mutual friend that is on twitter to that effect. She was going to e-mail a screen shot to me.

I am not sure what to do here. The allegations are 100% false. She has caused embarrassment to me and possibly did damage to my career.
I don't want money from her. I want her to call and admit she lied and had malicious intent. What would my best course of action be?

Talk to your boss & let him know that you are concerned that this girl might come over and cause trouble for the company so they might want to take precautions.. then the company will see her as an enemy & anything she says will be disregarded.

 

[Proserpina]

Defamation cases ARE about money.

They are incredibly costly to litigate - you're talking at least tens of thousands of dollars, and several years.

You also cannot sue based upon a "what if" or "might". If you ever do suffer reputational injury, that's the time to speak with an attorney.

In the meantime, ignore her. Send her a letter stating that you will be there at X time on Y date, accompanied by a friend/witness. She'll either be there, or she won't.

If she's not present, and you try several times, you may have to go through small claims to retrieve either your possessions or the value thereof, assuming you can prove that they exist and that she has them.

Don't entertain the tweets, the online shenanigans, anything. Don't even acknowledge their existence.

 

[pittguy53178]

It was so bizarre I could not believe what I was hearing.
She left me a rambling voicemail and then called my parents?

I did a public records search and have a copy of her criminal history.
I will keep that to show my boss just to show this girl has zero credibility.
My record is spotless.

I am just concerned if for some reason this has a negative affect or I face some type of disciplinary action. I tried to contact my boss today. I could not reach her. I called her close to five. Her voicemail says she is out until 12/27/2010.
I left her an urgent voicemail. I know she checks her messages remotely.

I know defamation cases are about money. I just want there to be a remedy.
Could I ask an attorney to send her a letter advising her to recant and fix things or else she will be sued?

 

[Proserpina]

It was so bizarre I could not believe what I was hearing.
She left me a rambling voicemail and then called my parents?

I did a public records search and have a copy of her criminal history.
I will keep that to show my boss just to show this girl has zero credibility.
My record is spotless.

I am just concerned if for some reason this has a negative affect or I face some type of disciplinary action. I tried to contact my boss today. I could not reach her. I called her close to five. Her voicemail says she is out until 12/27/2010.
I left her an urgent voicemail. I know she checks her messages remotely.

I know defamation cases are about money. I just want there to be a remedy.
Could I ask an attorney to send her a letter advising her to recant and fix things or else she will be sued?

The thing is, the threat of legal action can compel even an innocent person to recant a statement. It may not help your credibility at all.

That, and what if you send such a letter and...she doesn't do anything?

What are you going to do?

 

[pittguy578]

The thing is, the threat of legal action can compel even an innocent person to recant a statement. It may not help your credibility at all.

That, and what if you send such a letter and...she doesn't do anything?

What are you going to do?

I am not sure. So is doing nothing better than doing something? Honest question here.

I mean if she indicates that it was a fabrication and the party being notified does not know there was any threat of legal action..that would work?
I don't think she would need to tell the party she contacted there had been a legal threat. I would also essentially agree to "release" her from any potential claims if she does that meaning I would not use her admitting to management that she lied against her in any future proceeding if there should be one.

I am just trying to find the best way to clear my name. My manager is not in the office this week. I am not sure exactly what was said, etc.

 

[MrJenkins]

why do you think that if she admits to these false allegations, that your company won't fire you still.