LAW OFFICE OF ARKADY ITKIN
  • Home
  • Employment Law
    • Wrongful Termination >
      • At-Will Employment
      • Termination After Unfair Warnings and Write-Ups
      • Union Grievance, Workers Comp and Wrongful Termination
      • Labor Code 970 Claims
      • Promissory Estoppel and Employment Contracts
      • Implied Contract Claims
    • Discrimination >
      • Proving Discrimination
      • Age Discrimination
      • Disability Discrimination >
        • Protected Disabilities
        • Medical Leave / Disability Accommodations
        • Job Reassignment As A Disability Accommodation
        • SSI Disability Benefits and Your Court Case
        • Sample Request for Reasonable Accommodation
      • Pregnancy Discrimination
      • Race Discrimination
      • Sample Discrimination Complaint
      • DFEH and EEOC Investigations
    • Retaliation >
      • How to Prove Retaliation
      • Dealing with Retaliation While Still Employed
      • Retaliation for Complaining
      • Whistleblower Retaliation
    • Harassment
    • Defamation at Workplace
    • Prof. License Defense
    • Leaves of Absence >
      • Medical Leave as Reasonable Accommodation
      • FMLA Entitlement and Reinstatement to Work
      • CFRA Leave
      • Employers' FMLA Notice Obligations
      • Paternity Leave (FMLA)
      • Sample FMLA Leave Request
    • Wages / Overtime Claims >
      • Wage Claims
      • Employee or Contractor
      • Exempt / Non-Exempt >
        • Admistrative Exemption
        • IT Support Specialists Compensation
        • Computer Professional Exemption from Overtime
        • Recruiters / Account Executives Exemption
        • Complaining About Being Misclassified
      • Vacation Pay / PTO
      • On-Call Time Compensation
      • Deductions fr. Commissions
    • Unempl. Benefits Appeals >
      • Tips for EDD Phone Interview
      • Unemployment Benefits Appeal Hearing Representation
      • CUIAB Hearing Tips
    • Employment Law Blog
    • For Employers
  • Personal Injury
    • Five Tips For Injury Cases
    • Slip-and-Fall Injuries
    • Assault and Battery
    • Recorded Statements
    • Repairing Your Vehicle
    • Unpaid Medical Bills
    • Injury Law Blog
    • Medical Malpractice
    • Police Excessive Force
  • Practice Areas
  • About
  • Results
  • Submit Case
  • Contact
  • Resources
    • Consultations
    • Workplace Rights Checklist
    • Deposition Tips
    • Mediation Tips
    • Effective Mediator
    • Suing Current Employer
    • Severance Agreements
    • Workplace Investigation
    • Arbitration
    • Statutes of Limitations
    • Healthy Litigation Mindset
    • Trial Tips
    • Working Remotely
    • How To Find The Right Lawyer For Your Case

Califonrnia Employment Law: Accusation of Falsifying and Slander/Libel

12/12/2009

0 Comments

 
It is common for a company to fire and employee and write in the letter of termination that the subject employee was terminated for falsifying company records. Many of these accusations are not true, unfounded, not based on any real facts or exaggerated, turning a simple innocent mistake by an employee into a charge of forgery. The California law provides a powerful tool of a claim for Defamation (general term for Slander and Libel) that can be brought against employers for such false accusations and result in award of damages. Although a number of hurdles, many of which are procedural technical, exist in bringing and prosecuting a claim for defamation, this article discusses a few of the common obstacles and defenses that the employers use when sued for defamation and the truth about those arguments.  

Employers often claim that the employee cannot have a defamation claim unless the publication of false information was made to a third party (someone other than the employee and the employer).  However, this argument is without merit, as publication occurs when a statement is communicated to any person other than the party defamed (the employee falsely accused). Bindrim v. Mitchell (9179) 92 Cal.App.3d 61, 79. Even internal corporate statements can be considered publications within the meaning of the defamation law. Agarwal v. Johnson (1979) 25 Cal.3d 932, 944. In Agarwal, the court stated that internal company statements regarding the plaintiff's "lack of job knowledge and cooperation" were considered "published" for the purposes of alleging libel. 

Employers and especially their attorneys like to argue that "falsifying" is the same as making a mistake. First, it is important ton ote that the code definition of libel has been held to include almost any language which, upon its face, has a natural tendency to injure a person's reputation, either generally, or with respect to his occupation. Schomberg v. Walker, 132 Cal. 224. At least in one case the court held that the statement that plaintiff falsified invoices were slanderous per se in that it charged plaintiff with forgery. This kind of statement clearly implies that the accused employee did so with intent do defraud. Kelly v. General Telephone Company (1982) 136 Cal.App.3d 278, 285.

The defendant empoyer cannot avoid liability by claiming that the employer gave a more innocent meaning to the term "falsify" or any other accusation damaging the employee's reputation, than the employee sees in it. However, the California Supreme Court observed that the language used is to be considered not only in terms of actual words used by also according to the sense and meaning under all the circumstnaces attending the publication which such language may fairly be presume to have conveyed to those to whom it was published. Grover v. Tribune Publishing Company, Inc. (1959) 52 Cal.2d 536, 546.

Further, the fact that an implied defamatory charage or insinuation leaves room for an innocent interpretation (such as considering falsifying to be equivalent to mistake or negligence), does not establish that the defamatory meaning does not appear from the language itself. The language used may give rise to conflicting inferences as to the meaning intended, but thwne it is addressed to the public at large, it is reasonable to assume that at least some of the readers will take it it its defamatory sense. Id. at 549.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    San Francisco Wrongful Termination Lawyer

    Categories

    All
    Ada
    Administrative Exemption
    Age Discrimination
    At Will Employment
    Awol
    Cfra
    Constructive Discharge
    Contracts
    Defamation
    Disability Discrimination
    Disability Rights At Workplace
    Discrimination
    Employee Relations
    Feha
    Fmla
    For Employers
    Harassment
    Hostile Work Environment
    Independent Contractors
    Interactive Process
    Labor Commissioner Hearings (DLSE)
    Meal And Rest Breaks
    Mediation
    Medical Leave
    Non Compete Agreements
    Overtime Compensation
    Pregnancy Leave
    Racial Harassment
    Reasonable Accommodations
    Retaliation
    Sex/Gender Discrimination
    Sexual Harassment
    Sick Leave / PTO
    State And Public Employees
    Temp Agencies
    Tips For Employers
    Unemployment Benefits
    Vacation Time
    Vaccine Mandates
    Wage Claims
    Whistleblower Retaliation
    Workplace Disability Laws
    Wrongful Termination

    View my profile on LinkedIn

Personal Injury Law

San Francisco Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
Contact San Francisco Personal Injury Lawyer
Useful Legal Links
​

Employment Law

What Is Wrongful Termination?
Sample Request for Reasonable Accommodation
Sample Complaint about Workplace Discrimination 
FAQ About California Employment Law 

Law Office of Arkady Itkin

Contact Us
About
Our Practice Areas
Current Cases & Results 


Law Office of Arkady Itkin - San Francisco & Sacramento Injury and Employment Lawyer
We represent employees and employers in employment and wrongful termination cases, as well as victims of serious injuries in San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose, Palo Alto, San Mateo and throughout Northern California. We all represent businesses and start-ups in a wide range of business and employment issues and disputes. 


57 Post Street, Suite 812, San Francisco, CA 94104; Tel. (415) 295-4730; Fax. (415) 508-3474; [email protected]
Photos from shixart1985 (CC BY 2.0), Ivan Radic (CC BY 2.0), Ernst Moeksis, shixart1985, Rawpixel Ltd, Ivan Radic
  • Home
  • Employment Law
    • Wrongful Termination >
      • At-Will Employment
      • Termination After Unfair Warnings and Write-Ups
      • Union Grievance, Workers Comp and Wrongful Termination
      • Labor Code 970 Claims
      • Promissory Estoppel and Employment Contracts
      • Implied Contract Claims
    • Discrimination >
      • Proving Discrimination
      • Age Discrimination
      • Disability Discrimination >
        • Protected Disabilities
        • Medical Leave / Disability Accommodations
        • Job Reassignment As A Disability Accommodation
        • SSI Disability Benefits and Your Court Case
        • Sample Request for Reasonable Accommodation
      • Pregnancy Discrimination
      • Race Discrimination
      • Sample Discrimination Complaint
      • DFEH and EEOC Investigations
    • Retaliation >
      • How to Prove Retaliation
      • Dealing with Retaliation While Still Employed
      • Retaliation for Complaining
      • Whistleblower Retaliation
    • Harassment
    • Defamation at Workplace
    • Prof. License Defense
    • Leaves of Absence >
      • Medical Leave as Reasonable Accommodation
      • FMLA Entitlement and Reinstatement to Work
      • CFRA Leave
      • Employers' FMLA Notice Obligations
      • Paternity Leave (FMLA)
      • Sample FMLA Leave Request
    • Wages / Overtime Claims >
      • Wage Claims
      • Employee or Contractor
      • Exempt / Non-Exempt >
        • Admistrative Exemption
        • IT Support Specialists Compensation
        • Computer Professional Exemption from Overtime
        • Recruiters / Account Executives Exemption
        • Complaining About Being Misclassified
      • Vacation Pay / PTO
      • On-Call Time Compensation
      • Deductions fr. Commissions
    • Unempl. Benefits Appeals >
      • Tips for EDD Phone Interview
      • Unemployment Benefits Appeal Hearing Representation
      • CUIAB Hearing Tips
    • Employment Law Blog
    • For Employers
  • Personal Injury
    • Five Tips For Injury Cases
    • Slip-and-Fall Injuries
    • Assault and Battery
    • Recorded Statements
    • Repairing Your Vehicle
    • Unpaid Medical Bills
    • Injury Law Blog
    • Medical Malpractice
    • Police Excessive Force
  • Practice Areas
  • About
  • Results
  • Submit Case
  • Contact
  • Resources
    • Consultations
    • Workplace Rights Checklist
    • Deposition Tips
    • Mediation Tips
    • Effective Mediator
    • Suing Current Employer
    • Severance Agreements
    • Workplace Investigation
    • Arbitration
    • Statutes of Limitations
    • Healthy Litigation Mindset
    • Trial Tips
    • Working Remotely
    • How To Find The Right Lawyer For Your Case