My first thought was that it was a common insult, of the “sticks-and-stones” variety. Sure, I didn’t much like being falsely accused of a sex crime. But if I ignored it, it would go away. Right?
But I quickly realized that it was not right.
§ § § § § § §
Back in the olden days of the 20th century, if you were an employer and someone applied for a job, you’d ask for a couple of references, you’d contact their last few employers, and maybe you’d even check with the university from which they’d claimed to have graduated to see if they were telling the truth.
That kind of procedure seems positively lethargic by today’s standards. In the 21st century, there are companies that specialize in conducting comprehensive background checks for employers to ensure that they don’t accidentally hire, say, a sex criminal. One such company, for example, claims to provide “information found in public records, such as court records.” And lest you think that research is confined to criminal cases, another company makes sure that employers know that their service also returns information about “civil cases, and more.”
So if I applied for a job and didn’t get hired, it might simply be because I hadn’t met the employer’s requirements. Or it could be because a better-qualified candidate had applied for the same job. But maybe it would be because the employer had exercised due diligence and learned that I’d been accused of committing a sex crime. And why would any employer want to take a chance on hiring someone like that when there are so many other candidates out there who have not been accused of a sex crime?
It seemed to me that I had no choice but to sue Tommy the Super Lawyer to try to reclaim my reputation from his scurrilous charge. But for exactly what should I sue him?
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, defamation is “communication to third parties of false statements about a person that injure the reputation of or deter others from associating with that person.” That made it pretty clear to me that I had been defamed.
According to the dictionary, there are two distinct categories of defamation:
- Slander: “A false and defamatory oral statement about a person.”
- Libel: “Defamation of a person by written means.”
Tommy had defamed me in writing; therefore, he had committed libel.
So, what could I do about it?
Libel Law in Texas
Here’s how “libel” is defined in the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code:
“A libel is a defamation expressed in written or other graphic form that tends to blacken the memory of the dead or that tends to injure a living person’s reputation and thereby expose the person to public hatred, contempt or ridicule, or financial injury or to impeach any person’s honesty, integrity, virtue, or reputation.”
It’s a massive understatement to say that accusing me of a sex crime “tended” to injure my reputation. Clearly, I had been libeled.
But I was pretty busy, seeing as how I was still in the middle of a lawsuit in which I was suing my neighbor for an easement so she would stop harassing my wife and me. If I wanted to launch a libel lawsuit, when would I have to file it?
Once again, I found the answer in the ever-helpful Civil Practice and Remedies Code, which says:
“A person must bring suit for malicious prosecution, libel, slander, or breach of promise of marriage not later than one year after the day the cause of action accrues.”
I had been accused of exposing myself on May 25, 2022, which meant that I had until May 25, 2023 to (a) decide if I wanted to sue Tommy for libel, and (b) figure out exactly how to do it. I knew I couldn’t afford to pay a lawyer to file a libel lawsuit for me, so I was going to have to learn how to do it myself. I had a full year to read up on it, which might give me enough time to decide if I really wanted to file a lawsuit without a lawyer.
But researching the implications of libel law would have to wait. The libel case was a hypothetical possibility, but the easement case was very much in progress. And I had to prepare for a hearing that was coming up in just a few days.
Leave a Reply