The following events happens in the following order: (A) A prominent billionaire businessman states publicly that...

 

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The following events happens in the following order: (A) A prominent billionaire businessman states publicly that he "did not have an affair with his secretary"; (B) You found out what really happened from a confidential source; (C) You write an article about the incident which gets published in a publicly accessible online newspaper that the billionaire is a "liar". (D) A week later, the businessman sues you for defamation; (E) A month after that, but before the trial, the affair is proven to be true. Are you still liable for defamation? You are in a house alone with your significant other/partner. You have a big argument where your partner starts to call you terrible names and make all sorts of unsupported accusations and insinuations about your character. You break up because of these heated discussions. The argument turns out to have been captured in its entirely by a security camera installed in the house that you both knew of. Only the two of you have ever hear what was said. Can you sue your partner for defamation for what was said? Assuming now that you two were not alone in the house, but a house sharing roommate was down in the basement and heard the whole thing. As a result of comments made by your former partner, your roommate now thinks a lot less of you, and refuses to befriend you anymore. Can you now sue your former partner for defamation? You get a phone call from a competitor who is calling you about one of your former employees, who in fact was dismissed due to a rash of missing items that were traced to the former employee, although you never followed through with reporting the former employee to the police. You state on the telephone, "I can't give you any type of a reference on him, but I'd be careful about leaving him alone with expensive items that you own". If the employee found out about the call, would you be at risk of a defamation claim? The following events happens in the following order: (A) A prominent billionaire businessman states publicly that he "did not have an affair with his secretary"; (B) You found out what really happened from a confidential source; (C) You write an article about the incident which gets published in a publicly accessible online newspaper that the billionaire is a "liar". (D) A week later, the businessman sues you for defamation; (E) A month after that, but before the trial, the affair is proven to be true. Are you still liable for defamation? You are in a house alone with your significant other/partner. You have a big argument where your partner starts to call you terrible names and make all sorts of unsupported accusations and insinuations about your character. You break up because of these heated discussions. The argument turns out to have been captured in its entirely by a security camera installed in the house that you both knew of. Only the two of you have ever hear what was said. Can you sue your partner for defamation for what was said? Assuming now that you two were not alone in the house, but a house sharing roommate was down in the basement and heard the whole thing. As a result of comments made by your former partner, your roommate now thinks a lot less of you, and refuses to befriend you anymore. Can you now sue your former partner for defamation? You get a phone call from a competitor who is calling you about one of your former employees, who in fact was dismissed due to a rash of missing items that were traced to the former employee, although you never followed through with reporting the former employee to the police. You state on the telephone, "I can't give you any type of a reference on him, but I'd be careful about leaving him alone with expensive items that you own". If the employee found out about the call, would you be at risk of a defamation claim?

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I can provide some general information on defamation Defamation laws may vary depending on the jurisdiction so its important to consult with a legal p... View the full answer