Consumption and Real Estate
What is the difference between giving a bad reference and libel or slander? (In the United States)?
Question : What is the difference between giving a bad reference and libel or slander? (In the United States)?
What is the difference between giving a person or a company a bad reference and libel or slander?
Last year I moved into a new up(per) scale housing community, and I found that I knew the property manager from high school. A few months went by and she mentioned that they were going to be doing business with a company, a company that I had once worked for. I told the woman of the horrible experience I had working for them. I told her that often times their paycheques to their lower employees would bounce. I told her that the management had been cited for violating underage labour laws, And I told her that the whole company felt very shady, I said that I couldn’t put my finger on what it was exactly, but that I felt something sinister was going on behind the scenes.
Well, the property manager and the property owner got together and talked and they later chose not to do business with the company I worked for. They told my old company why, and the company was very upset. That have been “talking” about suing me for slander and vilification, but so far no actions have actually been taken.
But when I think about, suppose I had put them down as a reference for a job, I am sure they would have given me a bad reference, so I don’t see the difference. Where does the line go from giving someone a bad reference and slander/libel/vilification?
If it helps at all, I live in Maryland and my job was in Virginia.
property management companies in maryland
Best answer:
Answer by DAR
The issue is truth or falsity.
Was it true?
Libel and slander both require proof of false statements of fact (not opinion) that are uttered, heard by others, and believed, and result in tangible financial harm. If the statements are true — that paychecks bounced or that they had been cited, that is not slanderous. If the statements are opinions — such as a feeling that the company is shady, that is not slanderous.
A bad reference is most often an opinion. That is, if the company claimed you did not do good work, that is an opinion. If the company claimed you did not show or call with frequency, that is opinion. If the company claimed you were late exactly six times, that is a statement of fact.