Ex-employee says we're going broke - what can we do? 10-03-2007

I have an ex-employee who is sending e-mails to my employees and clients saying that she was let go because we couldn't afford to pay her. She was actually let go because we were down-sizing and she was not pulling her weight, although we told her we wouldn't fight her unemployment. Is this slander on her part? We haven't lost any customers because of this, but still it doesn't make us look good. What can we do?

Rita Risser replies:

Generally, a company cannot sue for slander. You could sue for "intentional interference with prospective economic benefit" but you would have to show that you were losing customers. Also you would have to be able to show that what she said was untrue. Technically, I think "down-sizing" means "we couldn't afford to pay her" so it sounds true to me. The best thing to do is to spend your time and energy keeping up good relations with your customers. If they're happy, you don't have to worry. Good luck.

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