Does this qualify as defamation?

[froggy]

I live in Louisiana.

A co-worker asked me today who I had pissed off. Not being aware of upsetting anyone recently I asked why. He told me one of our clients asked if I still worked for the company and if I specifically could not be involved in an upcoming project.

Since I have worked for the company (approximately 8 months) I haven't worked on a single project for that client and the work I have done for other clients has been without complaint.

My wife used to work for the client and the woman that asked I not be involved in the project used to work closely with my wife.

I wonder if I have any legal recourse as this could affect how my employer views me where they would not have questioned my character or my work otherwise.

 

[BelizeBreeze]

I live in Louisiana.

A co-worker asked me today who I had pissed off. Not being aware of upsetting anyone recently I asked why. He told me one of our clients asked if I still worked for the company and if I specifically could not be involved in an upcoming project.

Since I have worked for the company (approximately 8 months) I haven't worked on a single project for that client and the work I have done for other clients has been without complaint.

My wife used to work for the client and the woman that asked I not be involved in the project used to work closely with my wife.

I wonder if I have any legal recourse as this could affect how my employer views me where they would not have questioned my character or my work otherwise.

There is nothing in your post which would rise to the level of sustantiating a defamation suit.

 

[Zigner]

It sounds like the lady doesn't like your wife - which affects you. That is no where near defamation. You should be thankful that you weren't put in to a position which might cause even more difficulties down the road.

 

[froggy]

If not defamation, do I have any recourse here?

 

[Zigner]

Any recourse for what? You'll just work for other clients.

 

[froggy]

Like I said, by her singling me out and requesting I not work on their project it makes it appear to my supervisors that I may not be competent or they may question my work where they would not have had cause to do so before. At the very least, she puts me in an uncomfortable position with my superiors by needing to explain an ugly piece of my wife's personal history that isn't really their business anyway to defend my own work abilities and ethics.

It just seems wrong to me somehow that she can do something so highly inappropriate without there being any consequences.

 

[BelizeBreeze]

Like I said, by her singling me out and requesting I not work on their project it makes it appear to my supervisors that I may not be competent or they may question my work where they would not have had cause to do so before. At the very least, she puts me in an uncomfortable position with my superiors by needing to explain an ugly piece of my wife's personal history that isn't really their business anyway to defend my own work abilities and ethics.

It just seems wrong to me somehow that she can do something so highly inappropriate without there being any consequences.

Life sucks sometimes. Them's the breaks.

 

[Just Blue]

Life sucks sometimes. Them's the breaks.

I love that...can I steal it for my new sig line?? I will of course give you full credit!

 

[neener17]

If you don't like how you are being treated. Do what thousands of americans do every day "log on to www.monsterjobs.com, Hotjobs.com etc......" then you don't have to deal with this anymore!

 

[BelizeBreeze]

I love that...can I steal it for my new sig line?? I will of course give you full credit!

It's open source.

 

[froggy]

Neener, I like my job just fine and have no desire to leave it. I'm simply worried that by requesting that I specifically not work on the project for that client, my supervisors may view all of my work as suspect. In short, I feel this woman has tarnished my reputation with my company and I wanted her to understand it was highly inappropriate.

Although I had no intention of ever filing a suit (I'm more of the belief that if I let it go it'll likely just go away), I would have liked to give her pause for concern before she made comments of that sort again just because she had a problem with my wife.

 

[cbg]

You are blowing this way out of proportion. If she has a conflict of interest of some sort with your wife, it is not inappropriate at all, let alone highly inappropriate, for her to request you not be assigned to your account. It in no way reflects on your competence or your work. Your character has not been questioned nor has your work ethic. She simply prefers not to have someone working for her who is married to a former employee, which is perfectly reasonable. Your employers would have to be idiots to take such a request as a reason to question your character or your work; obviously they are in a much better position to judge both than a client you have never worked for. Why would they take her alleged assessment, which wasn't one to begin with, over their own?