The Supreme Court of Georgia has ruled that a lower court erred in dismissing a lawsuit by an employee who accuses his employer of defaming him.
For a Limited Time receive a
FREE HR Report "Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management." This comprehensive special report will give you the information you need to know about these current HR challenges and how to most effectively manage them in your workplace.
Download NowThe plaintiff is a former employee of Amerisave Mortgage Corporation. He alleges that the company and its business associates spread false information to other employees that he was terminated for theft. The company denies the allegations.
A lower court dismissed the lawsuit and an appeals court upheld the dismissal. In upholding the dismissal, the appeals court said that the former employee cannot maintain his defamation claim because he never alleged that the company disseminated the information outside of the company (that is, "published" the false information).
Before the Supreme Court of Georgia, the former employee continued to argue that he was defamed, alleging that the information was published when it was "disseminated to employees with no need to have access to his private personnel information."
In reversing the dismissal of the lawsuit, the Supreme Court of Georgia said that "construing these allegations most favorably to [the former employee], it is possible that he could introduce evidence within the framework of the complaint establishing that defamatory statements were disseminated to Amerisave employees who had no duty or authority giving them reason to receive the information."
Link