Ive a large security company for over a year in executive…

There are two issues here.

The first is about your employer.

Your employer owes you a duty of care.

This allegation was totally unfounded and at the very least careless if not malevalent.

She took this to many people and had no basis for doing what she did.

The employer investigated correctly and you've been vindicated.

But the employer should be dealing with her.

It's not something that is so trivial that you can over look this as indeed your integrity and honesty were called into play and she is the person who knew what was going on.

For this reason the employer should not be letting this go as she if was a child who tattled but was wrong.

The other issue is about defamation.

Defamation is false communication about a person that tends to hurts the person's reputation.

The communication must be made to other people, not just to the person it's about. It can be spoken or written, or it can even be a gesture.

The law protects your reputation against defamation so, if someone defames you, you can sue the person for money to compensate you for your damage to your reputation.

 

But it's important to understand that the law doesn't protect you from a personal insult or a remark that injures only your pride; it protects reputation, not feelings.

 

For example, if someone says that you are a sleazy person then that's not damaging to your reputation as it's really just a mean insult. But if the person is saying that you are dishonest in business, you probably do have a good reason to sue.

 

In your case because the defamation was in verbal form the actual legal term for what you would sue for is "slander".

 

If you can prove that someone libeled you (that is when the defamation is in written form) and that person does not have a good defence, then a court will presume that you suffered damages and award you money to compensate for your damaged reputation.

 

The law treats slander differently than libel: with slander, you have to prove you suffered damages, in the form of financial loss, to get compensation. It can be very difficult to prove this sort of financial loss. That's why most slander cases never go to court.

 

But in the following four examples, a slander lawsuit may succeed without you proving financial loss. Even though there's no permanent record of the slander, the law will presume damages, as if there were libel, if someone:

• accuses you of a crime (unless they made the accusation to the police)
• accuses you of having a contagious disease
• makes negative remarks about you in your trade or business
• accuses you of adultery

 

But going to Court is expensive and even if you win, you may not get as much as it costs you to sue. In deciding on assumed damages, the Court will consider your position in the community. For example, if you are a professional, damages may be higher.

 

Her defence would be that she truly believed what she was saying and was not intentionally lying. However, it's likely you could prove that she either knew she was lying or should have known.

Your next step should be to sit down, face to face, with a local lawyer.

It may be that the best approach is to have a lawyer write her a letter demanding a formal written retraction and apology that you can show everyone which will embarass her and not you.

What you can do to find a lawyer is one of the following things.

You can contact the Law Society and use their Lawyer Referral Service. You will be given the name of a lawyer and can consult with the lawyer and the first half hour will be free.

Or you can check on a site called lexpert. This is a legal directory of leading lawyers and law firms throughout Canada and is well-respected by the legal community.

Here's the link to their website:

http://www.lexpert.ca/Directory/DirectoryContent/FindLawyersOrFirm.aspx