Can I sue for Slander? Please read?

Question

My husband and i are both in the military. We work at the same dining facility. A civilian co-worker one day commented on how about how fine my husband was. My husband came and told me.
I went over to the person, and stated to her (because i wasnt sure if she knew we were married), "Do you know that Sgt. Noone and I are married?" She laughed and said no. Another co-worker who was standing there said, "We knew." Everyone laughed about it. That was Friday. On Monday, she went to the Mgr. and told him that i grabbed her up (in a threatning manner), and told her that Sgt. Noone and I were married. This is a lie, I did not put my hands on her. Is that slander? Can I sue? I will be recieving a negative counseling statement, which can result in UCMJ action.
Any anwers are appreciated.

THanks to all who responded...

Answer 1

You can sue for slander but you won't win. Two possible reasons: hard to prove your damages, and usually can't sue for making an aofficial report, even if false.

More important for you -- marshall evidence for the record to fight the negative counselling report, in case it goes father. And two, mellow out a bit about your husband. It sounds very much as if, wheher or not you touched her, that you confronted her after hearing she thought your husband was hot. The brass might think that worth a negative report whether or not you touched her. Just take it easy -- your husband is hot, and people will think so, but you should be proud of that, not angry.

Answer 2

It isn't really slander, since much of what happened DID happen and it is just her word against yours in this matter. (Unless you have witnesses who will stand up for you to your manager). If you do have witnesses, I would tell the manager what did happen and ask him/her to talk to your witnesses about it. Otherwise, suck it up and know that this woman cannot be trusted.

If you sue, what exactly are you suing for? You haven't been harmed by these statements. They didn't cost you your job, marriage, community standing, etc, so there isn't anything to "gain" by suing. You CAN sue (anyone can sue anyone for anything) but winning and proving that her remarks were maliciously untrue will be extremely hard.

Why is it that we always want to resort to suing someone in this society? What ever happened to talking to the person or your boss about the problem? Why do we always run straight for the court system to settle our differences. So she thought your husband was hot. Whether she knew you were married or not isn't really the issue. Just be happy you have a hot husband. Its not like anything came of her comments.

Again, talk to the boss. Explain what happened. Move on.

Answer 3

The only way you could sue her for slander is if it costs you your job. People can say whatever they want but when it damages your job welfare that is a different story. I would definately be going back to Friday in your mind and start documenting anything you remember. Also date and time your entry even though ithappened days ago. Noone will ever now the difference if you did it then or today. This will hold up in court if you happen to lose your job and decide to sue.

Answer 4

i would consult JAG. false or malicious statements are slander, but a suit may be a stretch. if you can get the JAG to talk to her, and apologize, then you would do well to do so. under UCMJ, it would almost have to be assault, so line up witnesses and get written statements they cant retract. i would talk to my CO at the first opportunity and humbly offer to apologize. be sincere, and regret what happened. do not confront this person without a witness.

Answer 5

you are not a person in the military (GI means government issue, a piece of equipment) so i am unsure if you have the same rights as a civilian. you should have some sort of manual explaining your rights, if you still have any.

Answer 6

first.find dirt on her.get wittneses.and hit em where it hurts (not litterally)