How Do Defamation Claims Work?

What Is Defamation Anyway?

A person is defamed when another person or organization makes a statement that harms the plaintiff’s reputation and causes him or her damages. For example, when Amber Heard wrote an article about experiencing domestic violence, Johnny Depp’s reputation was harmed so much that he had trouble getting roles in films which economically damaged him. A jury agreed with Johnny Depp and awarded him millions for the damages he suffered due to Heard’s claims. In order to prove that a person has defamed you, you need to have each element of defamation. While the broad strokes are generally the same, each state does have their own defamation elements. But, generally speaking, the statement must be false, it must be communicated to others, there needs to be negligence or malicious intent, and the victim of the false statement must have incurred monetary damages as a result.

The Statement Must Be False

Truth is a defense to a defamation claim. So, if the defendant is able to prove that his or her statement was in fact true, the plaintiff would likely lose their case for defamation—even if damages did exist. For example, if a man is a convicted predator, and a neighbor gets wind of this and spreads the information around, the man would be less likely to win a defamation claim against the neighbor even if those statements were shown to cause the man economic damages. But not every false statement is defamation. For example, when dubious news sources make outrageous claims—such as Brad Pitt is the Easter Bunny—those statements may not meet the standard of defamation. First, no reasonable person would believe that Brad Pitt is the Easter Bunny—or that the Easter Bunny exists in the first place. Also, many publications and gossip magazines have special protection as no reasonable person would trust these magazines as legitimate news sources.

Publication or Communication to Others

There also has to be publication and/or communication to others. There are two kinds of defamation: slander and libel. Libel refers to defamatory speech that is in writing. When a person publishes something in writing that is defamatory, that could be considered libel. Amber Heard’s article is a good example of this. Slander, on the other hand, refers to oral defamation. So, when a third party says something that is untrue. A famous example of this is when Alex Jones said that Sandy Hook was a hoax. Both Alex Jones and Amber Heard are very famous people with large followings, so they should be extra careful about what they say. However, you don’t need to be famous or have a large following in order to defame someone. If you start a rumor that your co-worker is doing drugs on the job, and your co-worker loses his or her job for this, that could be defamation—especially if s/he struggles to get another job because of the rumor you started.

Negligence and Intent

Victims of defamation suits need to prove that the person who made those statements knew they were false or acted with reckless disregard to the truth of those statements. Going back to the Alex Jones’s case, perhaps Alex Jones really did believe that Sandy Hook was a hoax—maybe he didn’t know he was telling an “untruth” when he claimed it was staged. However, if you do your research, you’ll see that any reasonable person would conclude that, tragically, the Sandy Hook Shooting did occur, and children really did die. Usually, a plaintiff does not have to prove that the defendant knowingly made a false statement, simply proving that they made the statement with reckless disregard for the truth of the statement is usually enough. However, if the plaintiff is a public figure, there’s usually a higher standard: public figures typically must prove actual malice. This means that they have to prove that the defendant’s conduct wasn’t just negligent; either they must prove that the defendant acted intentionally, or that the defendant had reason to believe the statements were false and proceeded anyway.

Damages

So, let’s say that the co-worker you despise starts a rumor that you’re a pen thief and now everyone’s hiding their pens from you—even the left-handed pens are hidden from you—is that defamation? After all, s/he does have an ax to grind, and s/he obviously knows that you aren’t a pen thief. Well, the problem here is that, as is, it doesn’t appear that you have any damages. So, you’re not allowed to borrow the fancy pens, or any pens at all, actually. That’s unfortunate, but the inability to borrow pens can’t be monetarily quantified. When you file a claim, especially for a claim like defamation, you generally need to have some economic damages. This means that you have prove that the defendant’s claims have caused you financial damage. You can also get compensation for non-economic damages; however, you’d likely have a difficult time if you only had non-economic damages.

When You Need an Attorney

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