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Terminated without cause, after possible defamation at work

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RedSox5373

Junior Member
Texas/Georgia... parent company located in Texas.

In early August 2019, my 3 year contract as a TV News Anchor in Tyler, Texas was terminated "without cause" by the U.S. media company Nexstar, who now owns more than 200 stations across the country. I was given 60 days notice in June that my contract was being terminated. No reason was given for my firing, even after I asked several times. On my last day, I was handed a release to sign, which would have given me 2 weeks pay severance. Yes, a lousy 2 weeks pay!!! This, despite the employee handbook saying I should have gotten 12 weeks severance, as I had been with the company for 9 years.

I did NOT sign the release. I felt I was giving up my right to sue for a lousy $1,400 minus taxes.

To add insult to injury, back in November 2017, my ex-fiancée (who I used to worked with at a TV station in Augusta, Georgia) made slanderous statements about me to former coworkers, management and friends. Someone "hacked" her phone and her online accounts, and started harassing her. She went around telling people I was the one who hacked her accounts and that I was harassing her. I told Augusta management she was doing this and they did nothing about it. Then the ex went to the police and investigators questioned me about it, tried to get me to admit to it, and threatened to arrest me and extradite me from Texas to Georgia.

I did NOT admit to it because I had nothing to do with it. Within two weeks though, friends, former coworkers, and even management, took part in the slander in Augusta, claiming I was the hacker/stalker. Many of them deleted me on Facebook and even blocked my phone number. Apparently, my ex told everyone that the police said it was me. That investigators had tracked the messages to Texas. If I did it, why wasn't I arrested?

I ended up getting corporate HR involved, and they did nothing about it. They were very hush, hush about it, telling me if I wanted to push litigation against my ex, I could. However, HR said nothing and did nothing about Augusta management also spreading the defamatory claims about me to former coworkers.

One year later, I'm terminated. And apparently blacklisted from Nexstar and even my old station in Augusta, who is now hiring. I applied and was told they are going with someone else.

I feel as though my ex's slander and management's role in it, and the mismanagement of it all by HR, is why I was let go, not considered for rehire, and the reason for the emotional distress I've been suffering since late 2017 (friends, former coworkers deleting me, blocking me, refusing to talk with me).

Do I have a case??? Wrongful termination? Defamation???
 


Just Blue

Senior Member
Texas/Georgia... parent company located in Texas.

In early August 2019, my 3 year contract as a TV News Anchor in Tyler, Texas was terminated "without cause" by the U.S. media company Nexstar, who now owns more than 200 stations across the country. I was given 60 days notice in June that my contract was being terminated. No reason was given for my firing, even after I asked several times. On my last day, I was handed a release to sign, which would have given me 2 weeks pay severance. Yes, a lousy 2 weeks pay!!! This, despite the employee handbook saying I should have gotten 12 weeks severance, as I had been with the company for 9 years.

I did NOT sign the release. I felt I was giving up my right to sue for a lousy $1,400 minus taxes.

To add insult to injury, back in November 2017, my ex-fiancée (who I used to worked with at a TV station in Augusta, Georgia) made slanderous statements about me to former coworkers, management and friends. Someone "hacked" her phone and her online accounts, and started harassing her. She went around telling people I was the one who hacked her accounts and that I was harassing her. I told Augusta management she was doing this and they did nothing about it. Then the ex went to the police and investigators questioned me about it, tried to get me to admit to it, and threatened to arrest me and extradite me from Texas to Georgia.

I did NOT admit to it because I had nothing to do with it. Within two weeks though, friends, former coworkers, and even management, took part in the slander in Augusta, claiming I was the hacker/stalker. Many of them deleted me on Facebook and even blocked my phone number. Apparently, my ex told everyone that the police said it was me. That investigators had tracked the messages to Texas. If I did it, why wasn't I arrested?

I ended up getting corporate HR involved, and they did nothing about it. They were very hush, hush about it, telling me if I wanted to push litigation against my ex, I could. However, HR said nothing and did nothing about Augusta management also spreading the defamatory claims about me to former coworkers.

One year later, I'm terminated. And apparently blacklisted from Nexstar and even my old station in Augusta, who is now hiring. I applied and was told they are going with someone else.

I feel as though my ex's slander and management's role in it, and the mismanagement of it all by HR, is why I was let go, not considered for rehire, and the reason for the emotional distress I've been suffering since late 2017 (friends, former coworkers deleting me, blocking me, refusing to talk with me).

Do I have a case??? Wrongful termination? Defamation???
This is your 5th thread regarding the same matter. In the future do not start another thread...just keep all question to this one. Thanks.


Px Hx for background.
 

quincy

Senior Member
You have only one year from the date of first publication of defamatory statements to sue for defamation in both Georgia and Texas.

You might have had a defamation claim to pursue against your ex-fiancee had you acted sooner.

I forgot to check your history on this site. Please keep all questions related to the same legal matter to a single thread.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Neither your HR nor your ex's HR in Augusta had any legal obligation whatsoever to do anything with regards to what she was doing or what she claimed you were doing. I have no clue why you would even imagine that they did.

Nor do I have any clue why you think your termination is related to any of this. But unless a legally binding and enforceable contract expressly and in so many words guarantees that your contract must be renewed and/or that you must be given a reason why it is not being renewed, you don't have a right under the law to either.

Nothing you have posted suggests that you have any claim for discrimination or wrongful termination. Depending on how the employee handbook is written and assuming that the SOL has not run out, it is just barely possible that you might be owed additional severance, but ONLY an attorney in your state who can read all the associated material for themselves can say. It's a long shot at best and it's all I can see that you've got left, since it appears the only claim of any strength you may have had is the defamation claim for which the SOL has run out.
 

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