Individuals found guilty of defamation may be liable for “triple damages” under a California Labor Code section (1050) that was enacted to prevent employers from “blacklisting” former employees who are looking for new jobs.
Among the categories of statements that constitute defamation (libel or slander) per se that are raised by employees are: statements that a person is unable or lacks integrity to carry out his/her office or employment; or statements that hurt the person in connection with his/her trade or profession.
To be actionable under California's trade libel law, a statement about a business must first be untrue. This means it must be false. The tort encompasses “all false statements concerning the quality of services or product of a business…”.
That someone made a false statement of purported fact about you: That the statement was made (published) to a third party; That the person who made the statement did so negligently, recklessly or intentionally; and. That as a result of the statement, your reputation was damaged.
You can only sue if what the person wrote about your business was defmatory: false, fraudulent, and untrue. If it is untrue, then it is defamation and Libel.
Although someone might have made negative remarks about your business, you will need to prove that these statements damaged your reputation or that of the business. To do this, you will need the help of an experienced defamation attorney.
Firstly, business defamation occurs when false statements about a company are communicated to third parties, causing harm to its reputation and other financial harm. These statements can be spoken (slander) or written (libel), and they must be both false and damaging to qualify as defamatory.
The plaintiff bears the burden of proving that the harmful statements are false. By examining whether the defendant's statement would have an effect different from a proposed statement by the plaintiff, courts test whether a statement is false.
What Is the Difference Between Libel and Slander? As we've discussed, libel is written defamation. Slander is spoken defamation. Courts typically consider libel to be more harmful than slander because written statements last longer than spoken statements and can be distributed more widely.
Libel: Libel is a defamation that is written, such as in a newspaper, magazine or on the internet. Slander: Slander is a defamation that is orally published, such as in a speech, over the airwaves, or in casual conversation.