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Retaliation and Defamation

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Many discrimination and wrongful termination claims involve claims for defamation or retaliation.
 

Retaliation is where an employer takes an adverse employment action against an employee for engaging in some activity protected by law.  Defamation is where a person communicates or "publishes" untrue derrogatory information about the plaintiff to a third person and that communication injures the plaintiff.  Please see the links at right to subpages discussing retaliation and defamation separately, anti-SLAPP suits, as well as defamation specifically in the U-5 FINRA context.

To establish a prima facie case for retaliation, an employee must show that he engaged in a protected activity, his employer subjected him to adverse employment action, and there is a causal link between the protected activity and the employer's action.  See Wrighten v. Metropolitan Hospitals, Inc. (9th Cir.1984) 726 F.2d 1346, 1354; Fisher v. San Pedro Peninsula Hospital, 214 Cal.App.3d at 614.

Defamation damages are presumed when the defamation falls into certain categories, including defamation regarding a person's employment, business or profession and defamation regarding criminal convictions or activities.

 
 

Call us at 408.797.0000

Call us at 408.797.0000

Call us for a consultation at 408.797.0000. We offer expert services and proven experience with complex issues that others can overlook.

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