I was selected for a promotion at work and a comment was made from a Salary Manager to a bunch of my hourly peers "how did he get selected, he is mentally unstable" I was told by two people that was there. Do I have any recourse against this person?
2007-03-08 11:06:22 · 3 answers · asked by Ken H 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Can you prove it? Will your peers support your claim? Did you incur damages?
2007-03-08 11:41:30 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know why you want to bother, but accusing someone of have a mental illness is libel/slander per se (my state doesn't distinguish between the two, but traditionally an oral statement is slander). In your instance, "Per se" means you do not have to prove the statement was slanderous. Also, damages are presumed, but I'd think the amount of damages would be minimal since you got the promotion. You could pay a lawyer a couple of hundred for advice--you do have a case--but what's it worth? Have you filed a complaint with Human Resources/Personnel? The statement would violate any employee handbook or policy.
2007-03-08 19:23:53 · answer #2 · answered by David M 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The comment could be considered slander.
However, the cost of proving it in court is likely going to be far in excess of any recovery you could make.
You might want to talk to your company legal department. They may be willing to require him (since he is managment) to apologize rather than having to defend against the lawsuit. Just be careful about making threats against the company -- many corporations are worse than wounded animals when cornered. Polite requests often work much better than ultimatums.
2007-03-08 19:17:25 · answer #3 · answered by coragryph 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋