A form of publication which tends to cause one to lose the esteem of the community is defamation. This is injury to reputation. A person can be held liable for the defamation of another. In order to prove defamation, the plaintiff must prove:
- that a statement was made about the plaintiff's reputation, honesty or integrity that is not true;
- publication to a third party (i.e., another person hears or reads the statement); and
- the plaintiff suffers damages as a result of the statement.
Slander is a form of defamation that consists of making false oral statements about a person which would damage that person's reputation. If one spreads a rumor that his neighbor has been in jail and this is not true, the person making such false statements could be held liable for slander.
Defamation which occurs by written statements is known as libel. Libel also may result from a picture or visual representation. Truth is an absolute defense to slander or libel.
Some statements, while libelous or slanderous, are absolutely privileged in the sense that the statements can be made without fear of a lawsuit for slander. The best example is statements made in a court of law. An untrue statement made about a person in court which damages that person's reputation will generally not cause liability to the speaker as far as slander is concerned. However, if the statement is untrue, the person making it may be liable for criminal perjury.
If a communication is made in good faith on a subject in which the party communicating it has a legitimate right or interest in communicating it, this communication may be exempt from slander liability due to a qualified privileged.
The following form letter demands that someone cease making libelous or slanderous statements, or appropriate legal action will be taken.
Claim Defamation Character Within A Company In Maricopa
Category:
State:
Multi-State
County:
Maricopa
Control #:
US-00423BG
Format:
Word;
Rich Text
Instant download
Description
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FAQ
A statement is defamatory if it tends to bring Name of Plaintiff into disrepute, contempt or ridicule, or to impeach Name of Plaintiff's honesty, integrity, virtue, or reputation.
There must be a publication of the defamatory statement, that is to say, it must be communicated to some person other than the plaintiff himself. In case of slander, either there must be proof of special damages or the slander must come within the serious classes of cases in which it is actionable per se.
In Arizona, the elements of a defamation claim are: a false statement concerning the plaintiff; the statement was defamatory; the statement was published to a third party; the requisite fault on the part of the defendant; and. the plaintiff was damaged as a result of the statement.
A person who commits the defamation is liable to any person injured by the defamation for damages, prejudgment interest, attorney fees, the costs of litigation and punitive damages. The damages may include lost sales and business, lost profits and loss in value of the business.
The statute of limitations in Arizona is set at two years for all personal injury claims. It is one year for libel or slander claims, which are a subset of personal injury law. Some exceptions may apply when it takes longer than a year for a person to reasonably realize an injury has occurred.
Small Claims. Resolving civil disputes if damages are less than $3,500. A small claims lawsuit is a claim against another party for damages of an amount less than $3,500.00. These lawsuits are designed to resolve civil disputes in front of a small claims hearing officer or a Justice of the Peace.
Statute of Limitations in Arizona The statute of limitations for credit card debt is three years. For car loans, mortgages and medical debts it's six years, and for unpaid taxes it's 10 years. The timeframe indicates the amount of time a debt collector has to collect a debt.
Arizona law imposes a two-year statute of limitations for many civil actions, like personal injury claims and wrongful death cases. Some civil cases, like libel or slander, have a one-year limitation period.
A civil action filed in a limited jurisdiction court is a claim against another party for damages of an amount up to $10,000.00. These lawsuits are designed to resolve civil disputes before a justice of the peace. Parties in a civil lawsuit may be represented by attorneys and appeal their case to a higher court.
Hurt in a car or truck crash, motorcycle wreck, slip-and-fall, or other personal injury accident? Arizona gives you just two years to file a lawsuit against the at-fault party.
