Slander and the Privacy Act

[leogirl0727]

What is the name of your state? Colorado

I was working at a company through an agency and was told that I would be hired on as a permanent employee. On a Tuesday, I had another job offer and went directly to my supervisor, the CFO, to ensure that they were hiring me. I was told by the CFO that the offer letter was being drawn up at that moment and I was asked to not accept the other position. Beings that I loved the people and the job itself, I decided to turn down the other position. On the following Friday, the company I was working for called the agency and said they were definitely hiring me. On the following Monday, I was let go due to "budgetary reasons." The CEO and CFO, who are married, reviewed the financials over the weekend and decided they could not afford to hire me at that time. I was not given notice and told to leave right then and there.

In January, I had been promised by the CEO that I would receive notice, and since they did not follow through with that, they decided to give me a severance. Through some sort of miscommunication between the agency I was employed by and the company I worked for, I was given two severances, which were not quickly evident to me at the time. I received a direct deposit about two weeks later from the agency for a two-week severance. The amount was very low so I originally thought it was for my last few timesheets, since I was paid on a bi-weekly basis. Four days later I found out that it was for a severance and that I had been garnished by the IRS for back taxes, quickly explaining why it was so low. I had no warning of this garnishment and did not receive any notice of it. I was shocked when I found it. I had thought that the agency was paying me a severance as well, because everyone felt so bad about the situation. I emailed the HR person at the company where I was placed and asked if they were still sending me a severance and was told they were. All they requested was that I fill out a W-9. I was so grateful and boasted of how kind they had been in the end after not fulfilling so many promises and felt they were trying to make up for a very bad situation, especially since I turned down a very good job opportunity to stay with them. On a Saturday, one-and-a-half weeks later, I received a severance check from the company. The following Tuesday I received a derogatory email from the CFO, in which she slandered me and my reputation, saying that I lacked integrity for accepting two severance checks. The contract for my working there was between the agency and the company. I had no idea that the agency would turn around and bill the company for the severance, especially since I had told the agency that I was getting a severance from the company. I told the agency this before they paid me. The CFO went on to say that she made sure that the agency knew about my "wrongdoings," not knowing that I had told the agency a long time ago that the company was giving me a severance. The agency did not communicate to the company that they were paying it because they wanted the huge mark-up. I expected the agency to communicate this to them. The agency would not have made any money if the company were to pay me.

In the email to me, the CFO divulged personal and confidential payroll information to everyone she cc'd on the email, which was the entire executive team as well as other staff members. In her email she detailed my garnishment to them and made slanderous accusations of embezzlement as well as a defamatory assault against my character. Isn't it illegal to divulge payroll information to others? Should the agency have divulged the information to the CFO? Isn't this against the Privacy Act? I immediately replied to the email and said that she had the wrong information and tried to explain the situation, with no response. I also told her that I received their check a few days prior and still had it and would obviously send it back to them, which I did. I had hoped in the future, once the budget allowed, I could return to work permanently for this company. I have lost sleep over this situation. I wake up in the middle of the night and have suffered loss of appetite and depression. I have lost close friends due to this situation beings I was painted as a thief. I would have raced to the bank the very next day and cashed the check before a stop payment was issued if that were the case. But, I held onto it for a few days and was planning on depositing it in my bank that very day. Now, I stand the chance of losing my house and my car because I basically only received a small portion of the severance.

Being an accountant, these words could prove to be detrimental to my finding another job. The COO of the company wrote up a glorious letter of recommendation, which I had mailed out with many resumes. The CFO stated in her email that she wanted to make sure the COO retracted his letter of recommendation. I believe that I have been sabotaged for other positions that I have applied for due to her words and actions. I believe I know her motive behind this. I started there and got all their accounting processed for the year 2007, since basically no previous computerized accounting existed. Then she basically came in and took over as CFO (being married to the owner) which led to my dismissal. People at the company were not happy with her and people were very upset when I was let go. She found a way to put me in bad light, to ease her discomfort for letting me go.

I worked countless hours that I did not charge for, since it would have been overtime. I bent over backwards for this company and went above and beyond. Because of these slanderous words by the CFO, I have lost lasting friendships with others I worked with at the company. No one will speak to me now or give me a platform to explain my side of the story. I would love to get a conference call set up with the agency so that the truth will finally come out. What can I do? I have lost many opportunities should people have called regarding the reference letter only to find that the author now recanted it, due to FALSE beliefs that were put in his head by the CFO. Is this a slander case as well as a violation of my privacy?

Help!!

 

[quincy]

You were promised a job so you turned down another job. You didn't get the promised job. You were promised a severence check. You were sent two severence checks by mistake (one from the company you were assigned to that had promised you a permanent position, and one from the agency you worked for). One check that was directly deposited into your account was garnisheed by the IRS for back taxes so you didn't think it was a severence check that had been deposited because it was too low. You found out it was the severence check that had been deposited, so you sent the other check back. Then you got another severence check? And then the company that was going to hire you, but didn't, sent out nasty emails to staff members and the entire executive team, after giving you a "glorious" letter of recommendation (which you have already sent out to several potential employers). In the emails, your integrity was questioned, you were accused of being a thief and an embezzler, and your garnishment and your payroll information were divulged.

Hmmm.

I would take all of your information and documentation to an attorney in Colorado and have him/her review it. It sounds like you may have a good basis for a defamation and/or an invasion of privacy action. The attorney can let you know whether it is worth pursuing.

 

[leogirl0727]

Thank you!

Thank you for your response. I wanted to make sure it's understood though. You asked the question, you were given another severance check? No, I only received one check and then the other one that was originally direct deposited. I returned the one check I received the same day she sent the nasty email. At first I was so hurt and saddened by the accusation, but now I am downright angry about it!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read about my dilemma. I know I would feel better if I fought back and didn't let this slide. This is my livelihood and being an accountant with the word "embezzlement" surrounding me, I will pretty much be blackballed from getting work again.

 

[quincy]

I thought I might have gotten one too many severence checks in my re-cap. Sorry.

This next part doesn't apply in your case, but an interesting fact about Colorado employment law and defamation is that Colorado is one of only seven states in the country that recognizes what is called "the theory of compelled self-publication".

Under the theory of compelled self-publication, if your former employer falsely accuses you of being, say, a thief or an embezzeler, and that is the reason he gives you for your termination, you can disclose to a potential employer what your former employer said, if they inquire about your reason for leaving the job. You are telling your potential employer, in other words, the truth about why you were fired, according to what you were told by the former employer, even when what the former employer said was false and defamatory.

Then you can turn around and sue the former employer for defamation. You, essentially, become the "third party" to the publication of a defamatory comment.

This is contrary to the traditional tort of defamation, which requires the false and defamatory statement be made to a third party other than the one defamed.

Of course, in your case, you already have "third parties" aplenty, thanks to the defamatory emails sent to staff workers and the executive team.

At any rate, make sure you gather all of the "evidence" you can (a copy of the email and "witness" testimony from a company staff member would help) and present it to an attorney in your area for review. Defamation actions are extremely expensive, and you may find a lawsuit against this CFO is not worth pursuing, but if your employment picture suffers as a result of her comments, a defamation action may help to repair your reputation.

 

[leogirl0727]

Thank you again!

Thank you so much again! I don't know if that would apply to me, since I wasn't fired because of this. They had already let me go.

Last week I went to a "follow-up" interview for a great job. I had already given them the letter of recommendation. The interview went perfectly and the owner told me that he was really impressed and that I was exactly what he was looking for. He said that he needed to still interview the other candidates that were scheduled for the day. I really thought I had the job. He said that the Human Resources Director would be going over my references. Last Friday, I got an email that they want to interview more candidates because they aren't finding the match they were looking for, which was the direct opposite of what was said to me at my interview. I really think that they made calls and contacted the COO who wrote the wonderful recommendation and something derogatory was said. I don't know how to approach this to find out. I guess after this Friday, I will find out for sure if I will be hired, but it is highly unlikely at this point.

As far as me taking this case to the next level, I am scared. I truly want them to be punished for what they have done to me and my reputation, but don't want to end up with egg on my face. Her behavior as CFO is extremely unprofessional and her actions were outright deplorable. It's the principle of the matter and she needs to be held accountable. This is absolutely eating me up inside and she has affected my ability to secure another job.

 

[quincy]

I know that "compelled self-publication" does not apply in your case - I just found it interesting so I added that information.

If you do not get the position you recently applied for, I would call the employer and ask for an honest and specific reason why you were not chosen. It may simply be because another applicant had better qualifications or whatever. If, however, it is because your former employer gave this potential employer reasons for your termination that are based on what you were told and what the emails charged, then that is further proof of defamation. . . . and it would probably be worthwhile to sue.

Definitely contact an attorney to see what he/she says. Lawsuits should always be a last resort, and I normally would not recommend a lawsuit if there is any other possible remedy to a problem - defamation cases are tricky and there is never a guarantee of a win. Proofs of defamation are vital. BUT, if you are having difficulty securing another position, and this can be tied to any false and defamatory comments made by your former employer, a suit could be your very best course of action.