Slander/unemployment

[Marian]

This is actually a question about slander, but it cost me my job. I worked for a county EMS service that use a board of volunteers to handle the business part of the operation. One of the volunteers went to the Medical Director and told him I was having an affair with a married volunteer and that I was a bad Medic and I broke a policy. She also went around to local business and told the shop owners not to let me patronize their business because I would cause them trouble.
I have been in EMS 14 years and never had any disciplinary action or been fired, this company dose not have a policy manual or employee handbook and I have never had an affair with anybody. The Medical Director looked into these complaints, found them all to be fraudulent, and instructed the volunteer to reinstate me, she ignored him, he wrote a letter, and she ignored that. The Medical Director has since resigned, I am on unemployment and the volunteer is still with the county EMS.
This is from Texas, right to work , I know I don't have a wrongful term, but it was the lies she told that got me taken off the schedule.

 

[cbg]

I'm sorry, but I just have to say this first. It's a hot button with me.

Yes, Texas is a right to work state, but all that means is that you can't be forced to join a union in order to get work. What you mean is that Texas is also an at-will state. It's THAT, not the right-to-work, that means you can be fired for any reason not prohibited by law. (The only state that is not at-will is Montana, and even Montana utilizes that at-will doctrine in some situations.)

Okay, now that I have that out of my system:

I am not a lawyer; I am a human resources consultant. I know employment law, and I have to know something about the laws of slander because of employment reference situations.

You are correct that you do not have a wrongful term case. You MAY have a case of slander against the individual who reported to your employer. You do not have any case against your employer.

It would certainly be worth your time to consult with a local attorney. As I understand it, slander frequently falls under personal injury, so that would be the type of lawyer you'd want to speak with. Many give free or low cost consultations.

As I further understand it, the burden of proof would be on you to prove not only that the information she gave your employer was false, but that it was presented as statement of fact and that she KNEW it to be false. Opinion is protected; you cannot sue for slander on the basis of her stating her opinion in most cases. That means that based on the info in your post, most if not all of your claim would be based on her claim that you were having an affair with the married volunteer. "She's a bad medic who will cause you trouble" is a statement of opinion, not fact, UNLESS she backs it up with detail; "She's a bad medic who will cause you trouble because she....(fill in the blank with something you are purported to have done)".

This is not to say that you can't prove your case; just to tell you what you'll need to be prepared to prove. A local attorney will be able to work through the specifics with you.

Good luck.