michael1277
New Member
I have questions concerning defamation of character. For the last few months I've been having difficulty at work because of things others have said. One manager called my immediate superior and told them that I was drunk at a meeting. This was based off of something they'd been told by one of their employees and was totally fictional. This person is a senior manager with my company and has alot of sway with the staff and other managers. I have a very straight forward demeanor and have had alot of success in my job. I've been a solid performer for the company for the last year and have recently been promoted myself. I found out today that my employees have a negative opinion of me. I've only been their manager for three weeks and during a meeting we had they told me they'd already heard numerous negative things about me. they've been told I'm arrogant and difficult to deal with. Before I was promoted the district manager went to the most senior employee and told him he probably wouldn't like me and that we wouldn't get along. My work history was also brought up by one of the employees at the meeting in a negative fashion. I've held four jobs in seven years and have made changes due to personal reasons that were none of this employees business. He brought it up in such a way as to seem negative, like I'd moved so much I obviously couldn't be any good or I wouldn't have left the other companies. He also stated that he didn't think I was fit to manage the team because I wasn't good enough, but reports, that he has access to, show that I'm an above par performer. All of these things have combined to make it nearly impossible for me to do my job. The employees had pre-formed negative images of me based on things others, including other managers, had said about me due to situations they knew nothing about or had never happened in the first place. My work environment is so uncomfortable that I don't even wan to go to work. I can't go to my superiors because some of them spoke badly of me to my own associates. Do I have a defamation case? What should I do?
