Slander?

[steaithstyie]

Pennsylvania: I work in a hotel in Pennsylvania. Our hotel has agreements with parking garages that offer discounts to employees and there are apparently ways to scam the parking garage out of money. My boss was told by the parking authorities that I was using these ways to scam the company out of money. This is an absolutely false statement. My boss approached me in the middle of the hotel with both co-workers and customers walking by. Is this slander if he accused me of stealing?

 

[BelizeBreeze]

Pennsylvania: I work in a hotel in Pennsylvania. Our hotel has agreements with parking garages that offer discounts to employees and there are apparently ways to scam the parking garage out of money. My boss was told by the parking authorities that I was using these ways to scam the company out of money. This is an absolutely false statement. My boss approached me in the middle of the hotel with both co-workers and customers walking by. Is this slander if he accused me of stealing?

No, not even close.

 

[steaithstyie]

Could you please give reason?

 

[BelizeBreeze]

Your boss is not slandering you.

He is relaying a concern that has come to him/her from a third party.

 

[steaithstyie]

Isn't he required to do this in a private area as to not make it slanderous? He is falsely accusing me of theft in front of co-workers and customers, potentially ruining my reputation with them.

 

[BelizeBreeze]

Isn't he required to do this in a private area as to not make it slanderous? He is falsely accusing me of theft in front of co-workers and customers, potentially ruining my reputation with them.

From the facts in your post your boss is not slandering you.

Now, either stop asking the same damn question or provide more facts.

 

[Quaere]

If an individual overheard the boss, would that individual think the boss was investigating a crime or accusing you of committing one?

If the boss was clearly accusing you and you are innocent, it might be slander. Much depends on exactly what was said and the context it was said in.

If it was slander, you need a witness who is willing to testify to exactly what was said.

 

[BelizeBreeze]

If an individual overheard the boss, would that individual think the boss was investigating a crime or accusing you of committing one?

If the boss was clearly accusing you and you are innocent, it might be slander. Much depends on exactly what was said and the context it was said in.

If it was slander, you need a witness who is willing to testify to exactly what was said.

Think again.

 

[EvilWizard]

Ughh make it simple:

Company tells Boss that Employee is stealing.

Boss asks Employee if s/he is stealing.

1. Does boss have to ask in private? NO

2. Is it slander to have spoken this in public? NO (He was informed you may be stealing and followed up on it.)

BB I bet there is one more question left that will be asked though.

 

[Quaere]

“Think again.”

Does anyone here have any idea what the above “suggestion” means? The writer indicates he has information that refutes some part of my prior post but fails to share this insight. I fail to see the point of such a post.

Ughh make it simple:

Boss asks Employee if she/he is stealing.

1. Does boss have to ask in private? NO

2. Is it slander to have spoken this in public? NO (He was informed you may be stealing and followed up on it.)

The scenario you propose is simple but it is based on your assumptions about what the boss said. The critical question is how the boss “asked” the employee if he was stealing.

For all we know the boss’s way of investigating involved making a statement such as, “I’ve been informed you’ve been stealing from the garage.”

Such a statement implies the existence of defamatory facts and would be actionable if the other elements of the claim are met.
There could be a problem with the element requiring the defamatory statement to have been communicated to a third party. This would be a question for the finder of fact and would turn on whether or not the average person felt the boss knew that others were listening or expected that his statement would be heard by others.