Suing for Slander

In democracy, every individual has the freedom of expression enlisted as his fundamental right. That, however, should not be interpreted as the right to malign the reputation of other people by spreading false information about them. Irrespective of whether it is done deliberately or it happens by mistake, defamation can never be justified. Basically, there are two forms of defamation - slander, which deals with verbal defamation, and libel, which is more often associated with published information. While the process of suing for slander and libel differs from one another, basic knowledge about both of them can be of significant help.

What is Slander?
A form of defamation, slander is basically the act of spreading false information about an individual or entity, which results in damage to the reputation of the said individual or entity, which may or may not result in financial loss. It is different from the other form of defamation - libel, wherein the false information about a particular individual or entity is published, instead of just being spread verbally. Though slander is more often associated with verbal accusations, sometimes body gestures or spread of information on the Internet also amounts to the same. While libel can be proved easily in the court of law, it requires some efforts on the behalf of the complainant to prove slander. This, in turn, makes the process of suing for slander and defamation a bit tedious, and therefore people prefer to opt for out of court settlement. Read more on slander vs. libel.

Grounds for Suing for Slander
As soon as you realize that some slanderous information about you is being spread, you would obviously attempt and try to stop it. But then, stopping slander may not be as easy as it seems. At times, you are left with no option but to sue the individual for defamation. An individual can be sued for slander even when the false accusations started by him are being spread by other people. If you have a tough time dealing with the legalities of the matter, you can hire an attorney to carry out the legal proceedings on your behalf.

When it comes to suing for slander, the onus is on the complainant to prove the slander, and show that his image has been tarnished because of it. In case of libel, there is ample evidence, in form of published work, to prove that defamation occurred. The same is not the case with slander, wherein the accusations are verbal, and proving that the accused said them is difficult owing to the lack of evidence. Eyewitness testimony does play a crucial role in determining whether slander occurred, but such cases are quite rare. In case of slander in the workplace, there are significant chances that your colleagues overhear the conversation and give testimony on your behalf, but that need not be the case in all the situations.

More importantly, you as the complainant also have to prove that the slander damaged your reputation to a significant extent. If financial aspect is involved, it becomes relatively easy to prove slander. In order to prove that the slanderous statements caused a significant damage to your image, you also need to prove that the statements made by the accused were false. For instance, if an individual alleges that you are suffering from a particular ailment, you will have to provide medical records that refute this claim.

If the slanderous statements were made online, taking the screenshots of the webpage containing the posts or comments can prove to be an important evidence to sue for slander. The number of comments following the slanderous statements would act as further evidence. Even if the posts were deleted before you could take the screenshots, you can contact the network administrator for the particular website, and make a formal request to furnish you with the records.

Once you file a lawsuit against the accused, he will have to file an answer for the same. The accused may either deny coming up with any false accusation or accept the charges, but argue that he shouldn't me made to pay for any damages. In the first case, you will have to use the evidence you collected, in form eyewitness testimony or hard copy of records, to prove that the statements made by the accused caused harm to your reputation. In the second case, you will have to provide a detailed record of the financial loss you suffered as a result of the damage caused to your reputation. Based on this evidence, the judge will give the ruling, and direct the accused to pay for the damage/s.

As we mentioned earlier, the biggest hindrance when it comes to suing for slander is to prove that the accused said something which led to defamation of character. The fact that it is very difficult to prove that slander occurred, makes many people opt for an out of court settlement, instead of filing a defamation lawsuit for the same.