I need a lawyer, Red Deer

[rog]

I need to hire a lawyer in Red Deer, former employer is slandering. Recommendations?

[fish_e_o]

Originally Posted by rog

I need to hire a lawyer in Red Deer, former employer is slandering. Recommendations?

prove it! #1 thing is proof get lots of hard proof! no word of mouth, you'll be looking for emails, things in writing etc. without that you might as well save your money and just ignore them

[bigbfidaddy]

Alberta labor board. Maybe. But fish is correct without proof it never happened.

[JamesB]

You will find that the costs of pursuing this greatly exceed any potential payout. Personal reputation is worth maybe $5,000 unless the defendant has published the statements very publicly. Your legal bills to get it to court will likely cost you $50,000 or so, and if you win you might get costs approaching $2,000 or so. The process is the punishment, and the defendant will have to spend heavily to defend. If he has deeper pockets than you, you will likely loose by attrition as the case will take years to resolve.
I have personal experience here as I have been defending against false accusations of defamation that were made in 2009. I am still years away from a court date too.

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by rog

I need to hire a lawyer in Red Deer, former employer is slandering. Recommendations?

1. Don't have to go down the whole suing road. Often a simple, threatening letter from a lawyer is enough for an employer to see the light.
2. An employer is subject to Alberta's Personal Information Protection Act and is bound to keep information about employees and former employees, inclusing opinions about them, confidential. Find the people who are willing to state what was told to them by your ex-employer and then give the Privacy Commissioner a call. Whether the statements are true or false is irrelevant. Costs you Nada and your ex-employer will have an investigator so far up his.... He will be the one hiring a lawyer.

[edmhunter]

Call the Alberta Law Society - Lawyer Referal number, they will give you three lawyers to call, each will give you up to 30 minutes to discuss your case then you can decide form there.

Their number is: 1-800-661-1095

URL: http://www.lawsociety.ab.ca/public/lawyer_referral.aspx

Good luck

[wildside2014]

What makes you think he is slandering? This makes me raise an eyebrow. Employers have nothing to gain from making up stories about someone. What i do see is you Left on bad terms and are now sour that your past work history is nipping you in the butt.

[Rabbit Snarer]

Originally Posted by wildside2014

What makes you think he is slandering? This makes me raise an eyebrow. Employers have nothing to gain from making up stories about someone. What i do see is you Left on bad terms and are now sour that your past work history is nipping you in the butt.

Very thoughtful advise, especially following edmhunter. Are you embarrassed?

[wildside2014]

Originally Posted by Rabbit Snarer

Very thoughtful advise, especially following edmhunter. Are you embarrassed?

Not at all. Why would i be? Just my two bits.

[dumoulin]

Originally Posted by Okotokian

1. Don't have to go down the whole suing road. Often a simple, threatening letter from a lawyer is enough for an employer to see the light.
2. An employer is subject to Alberta's Personal Information Protection Act and is bound to keep information about employees and former employees, inclusing opinions about them, confidential. Find the people who are willing to state what was told to them by your ex-employer and then give the Privacy Commissioner a call. Whether the statements are true or false is irrelevant. Costs you Nada and your ex-employer will have an investigator so far up his.... He will be the one hiring a lawyer.

X2

[alacringa]

Originally Posted by Okotokian

1. Don't have to go down the whole suing road. Often a simple, threatening letter from a lawyer is enough for an employer to see the light.
2. An employer is subject to Alberta's Personal Information Protection Act and is bound to keep information about employees and former employees, inclusing opinions about them, confidential. Find the people who are willing to state what was told to them by your ex-employer and then give the Privacy Commissioner a call. Whether the statements are true or false is irrelevant. Costs you Nada and your ex-employer will have an investigator so far up his.... He will be the one hiring a lawyer.

This is the best advice on the thread, IMO.

[lake side]

[QUOTE=wildside2014;2567246What i do see is you Left on bad terms and are now sour that your past work history is nipping you in the butt.[/QUOTE]


You got this from .....

Originally Posted by rog

I need to hire a lawyer in Red Deer, former employer is slandering. Recommendations?

I'm not seeing what you are.

L.S.

[wildside2014]

Originally Posted by lake side

You got this from .....




I'm not seeing what you are.

L.S.

Sounded to me like he has the former employer in his resume, figures hes getting a bad rap when references are used, and wants to take action

[rog]

I want to thank everyone for their responses. I can't get into the details on here obviously, but don't assume anything from my post, I may not even be the person who needs the lawyer. I understand how this forum works and that it is entertainment for most people. But I do appreciate the help.
Thank you.

[phatso]

For slander or defamation you have to prove actual financial damages. That is them deliberately ruining your charterer made you suffer financial loss. Hurt feelings don't count, meaning freedom of speech entitles people to be able to say whatever they want about you. Even the newspapers or the evening news can speculate on your actions to make you look like the bad guy and theres nothing you can do.
To win you have to prove a hell of a lot more than you would think.

[densa44]

I don't recommend suing either, very expensive and no positive results ar the end.

The advice is pretty good;

1. You have to show damages.
2. The slander has to be false, and you have to prove it.

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by densa44

I don't recommend suing either, very expensive and no positive results ar the end.

The advice is pretty good;

1. You have to show damages.
2. The slander has to be false, and you have to prove it.

That's true if it's a private individual or a newspaper, etc. I'ts not true if it's your employer. You employer can not go out and divulge personal information about you. They can't post your performance appraisal online. They can't phone up others in the business and tell them that you are no good and not to hire you. There is Privacy legislation that prevents this.

[fish_e_o]

Originally Posted by Okotokian

That's true if it's a private individual or a newspaper, etc. I'ts not true if it's your employer. You employer can not go out and divulge personal information about you. They can't post your performance appraisal online. They can't phone up others in the business and tell them that you are no good and not to hire you. There is Privacy legislation that prevents this.

personal information and opinions are slightly different and it's a fine line. someone saying "i really did not like that guy, he's a big meanie" is opinion and people are entitled to that.

honestly they aren't going to care unless the guys address, bank account, social insurance number or anything like that has been given to the public. it's bad advice to contact them and it makes you look worse providing false allegations if you actually have a case.

[dwo]

In a nutshell, Slander is verbal and is difficult to prove. You do have to "prove" your damages also.
Defamation is written and is easier to prove if you have the "written" remarks. although it helps you do not have to "prove" your damages.

***this is not legal advice***

[JamesB]

Originally Posted by phatso

For slander or defamation you have to prove actual financial damages. That is them deliberately ruining your charterer made you suffer financial loss. Hurt feelings don't count, meaning freedom of speech entitles people to be able to say whatever they want about you. Even the newspapers or the evening news can speculate on your actions to make you look like the bad guy and theres nothing you can do.
To win you have to prove a hell of a lot more than you would think.

No, a company has to prove financial damages. Individuals can seek relief if their reputation is damaged. Also, while the truth is a defense, true comments made maliciously can result in remedies too.
Again though, any relief will be much less than the cost of the exercise. The process is the punishment.

[JamesB]

Originally Posted by densa44

I don't recommend suing either, very expensive and no positive results ar the end.

The advice is pretty good;

1. You have to show damages.
2. The slander has to be false, and you have to prove it.

No, not really.
You have to demonstrate your reputation was harmed.
It can be true but malicious, or false. Defamation is strange in that the person alleging defamation provides evidence that statements were made. The one defending is left to prove they were not made, true if made, and not made maliciously. Defending can be costly and time consuming.