Defamation of character?

[rdb123]

This one is for all of your American law gurus out there...

If a group of people were to make unprovable accusations in an attempt to slander a person, could the individual sue for defamation of character, etc.?

Just wondering.

[Rooster]

Yes, but you have to prove damages. You would need to prove how their deflamation cost you money in actual dollars.

[oldsoldier]

Also, it USUALLY only applies if you have something to lose; ie politicians, business owners, etc. Someone calls you names is not grounds for that.

[WicKeD_WaYz]

I am recently going through a thing on my football team...

My coach is being openly accused by the newspaper of recruiting players to come to his school from other highschools (illegal in highschool football)

But the thing is. The newspaper writer hates our coach soo bad he writes stuff like this about him.

"from the moment I met coach *******, I could see the devilish twinke in his eye, I knew he was a dishonest man who had a few tricks up his sleeve from the beginning..."

Ok that wasnt word for word but you get the idea. Its stuff like that.

Is that illegal?

NOTE:My coach isnt a cheater, doesnt recruit players, is not devilish , and is one of the nicest men I know.

[Restola]

Putting yourself in leadership-type roles can open you up to perfectly legal atatcks.

I do not know much about any of these laws, but I image you would have to prove intent (probably pretty hard)and, as previously mentioned, financial loss.

[shartley]

Originally posted by WicKeD_WaYz
I am recently going through a thing on my football team...

My coach is being openly accused by the newspaper of recruiting players to come to his school from other highschools (illegal in highschool football)

But the thing is. The newspaper writer hates our coach soo bad he writes stuff like this about him.

"from the moment I met coach *******, I could see the devilish twinke in his eye, I knew he was a dishonest man who had a few tricks up his sleeve from the beginning..."

Ok that wasnt word for word but you get the idea. Its stuff like that.

Is that illegal?

NOTE:My coach isnt a cheater, doesnt recruit players, is not devilish , and is one of the nicest men I know.

[jdev]

I had something like that happen to me. It was pretty serious tooo.. I almost kicked the **** out of one of my best friends parents, and my mother (who is a lawyer, holds a masters degree) almost sued him for everything he owned, PLUS the person that told him about it.

what happend was this:

my friend laurens friend kyles mom told laurens dad that I was a child molester.

now, this happend when I was about 18-19, and my friend lauren is 3 years younger than me.. you can imagine the perdiciment that this puts me in.

so, here I am, being labled as a child molester, and it couldnt be further from the truth.

everntyually the entire thing was sorted out, outside of court, but yes, there was a definate case for slander/defamation of character even though no monetary loss ensued. my reputation as an upstanding member of my community (ok, cant back that up, but im not a hoodlum either) would have been tarnished, I would have been labled something im not, and I would have been shunned and turned away for obvious reasons.

If something like this has happened to you, I would say sit down with a lawyer that can give you a free or cheap consultation on the matter and see what your options are. stop anything now before it goes too far.

[Thordic]

If you were 19, and she was 16, and she was hot, no one would hold it against you if there was some molestation going on

Consensual molestation, at least

[jdev]

ha, the thing is, I wasnt accused as a child molester to her.. like it was never brought up that I did anything to her.. she is one of my best friends, and still is. (im 21 now, soon to be 22)

i think it was a just in general accusation, but in any event, it sucked.

[Brak]

you could also try to press mental abuse, if you get lucky

[rdb123]

Well, supposing a few students accused another student of sexual harassment but later ended up with no evidence to show for it.

Now, since this is a highschool, the rumor started going around that my friend was/is suspended for the unproven, aforementioned accusation. It not only gets heard by parents who would shun the student, but it also gets to their teachers and college advisors who then cannot do their job fairly.

Would that classify?

[shartley]

Originally posted by rdb123
Well, supposing a few students accused another student of sexual harassment but later ended up with no evidence to show for it.

Now, since this is a highschool, the rumor started going around that my friend was/is suspended for the unproven, aforementioned accusation. It not only gets heard by parents who would shun the student, but it also gets to their teachers and college advisors who then cannot do their job fairly.

Would that classify?

Highly unlikely.......

[Restola]

Unfortunatly for men, women can accuse you of anything. Regardless of evidence many people will convict you based on the accusation alone. It happens in divorce cases with children involved. Mother accuses father, father loses custody while spending thousands and thousands of dollars defending himself. He may lose his job, friends, and so on.

I have never heard of any man getting any compensation after being proven innocent (which seems like the burden in these cases).