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Our child has been talked about by another family on many occasions. Two prominent incidences have hurt her with friends. One was when she was 7 years old with another older child who was watching her. The older child talked her into following her while she put a nail under a neighbors tire. My daughter was only 7 and really didn't know what she was doing. This was uncovered and we paid for the damages. This other family who were not even involved heard this story and repeated it not telling other parties that my daughter was only 7 at the time did this kind of thing all the time because she hung around with all boys that were wild. This did effect my daughter not being able to be friends with some girls because the parents believed she was bad. Another major incident was the accusation that again my daughter hung around with mostly boys in 7th and 8th grade and did bad behavior. Our daughter has alopecia and therefore identified with mostly boy friends to hang with due to her condition. The other incident was she was accused of smoking pot with a group of boys one night. This was spread to all our neighbors and beach club. After investigation, it was found my daughter was not present with this boys the night this alleged incident took place. She was home in bed early due to an early swim practice the next morning. This family always talks badly about our daughter and tells neighbors she is a bad kid. The first story about the nail and tires did get back to her swim coach who reacted badly with her believing she was older when this occurred. We want this other family to stop telling stories to people in town to denigrate our daughter.
State/Country relating to Question: Connecticut Already Tried: Verbally threatening to sue this family for any talking about our daughter
Hello,My name is XXXXX XXXXX X am one of JustAnswer's attorneys. I'll be trying to help you today.You actually can sue for slander. Lawsuits are made up of causes of action, in other words, to file suit, you need a cause of action (at least one).You can file multiple causes of action together. All causes of action have different elements you have to satisfy. For example, “negligence” is proven if there is (1) a duty owned to Plaintiff and (2) the Defendant breached that duty.It takes too long to explain all elements of each cause of action, but from my knowledge, you have a lawsuit for the following causes of action: slander / defemation of character.Some elements of the causes of action different by state due to different evolution of local law, but they are generally nearly identical.If the hearing is by Judge (“bench trial”), the Judge decides. If the hearing is by Jury (“jury trial”), a majority of the Jury has to decide towards one way. Although a lawsuit is automatically set up to be heard as a bench trial, either party can request a jury trial. Defendants usually prefer a jury trial since it’s harder to convince a few minds, rather than one.In the end, the Judge or Jury that decides whether or not the elements for each of the causes of action were satisfied, and if so, what damages are needed to rectify the situation.Know, however, that 85% of such cases are resolved with a stern demand letter from your attorney and perhaps a draft petition included with it. That usually scared them to make a deal to avoid litigation. When you hire an attorney, make sure to hire them on a contingency basis, i.e. they don't get paid unless you do (usually about 33%, or 40% if reward is from trial). At the very least, the theat letter and petition will usually scare them into behaving and leaving your daughter alone.Best of luck in your matter! I'm here if you need any more clarification or follow up info. I hope you found my answer helpful, and if so please click on the GREEN ACCEPT button for my answer. This is the only way for me to be paid for my work. Your question will not close, and you will still have the opportunity to follow-up if and I would be happy to answer any and all of the follow up questions. There might be a delay between your follow up questions and my answers because I may be helping other clients or taking a break.Leaving a bonus and positive feedback is not required, but doing so is certainly appreciated! You can always request me for a future legal consultation through my profile at http://www.justanswer.com/profile.aspx?PF=7286322&FID=7 If you do this, make sure to being the question with “This Question is for Eli…”
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