Frivolous (non-sexual) harassment accusation by coworker and fired

[nonamer1]

What is the name of your state? Arizona

I'm a male. Frivolous accusations of (non-sexual) harassment and assault were made by another male employee to HR. This individual appears to be mentally unstable as his behavior towards me was oscillating between positive to negative without any reason. I was trying my best to be a good, friendly co-worker, and participated in activities such as hiking, going to happy hours, etc. This individual was very manipulative and seemed to have a "love-hate" relationship with me. He would mock, tease and taunt me, but would then say that it was all just "banter" or "I give him shit, he gives me shit". I tried to be good friends with him, hoping he would behave better towards me. I gave him gifts, but he freaked out and got really offended. On the other hand, he would copy me in every little detail as if I was his role model. He would make raunchy and offensive jokes but would get offended at jokes directed at him. Once he even said to another co-worker in my presence, that he said things just to "piss me off". He would talk to me in words that implied very close friendship. but when i believed the friendship to be genuine and gave him gifts, he got offended for some mysterious reason. When I asked him to hang out or do activities, he would say no, just to have that power over me. He would block my phone number for silly reasons. He would do little things that would appear like innuendo, but then when I would confront him, he would lie about these things, and completely deny them. I was completely deceived by his behavior. In summary, he pretended to HR that I was causing problems for him. But the truth was he provoked me, and my behavior was in reaction to his actions. I have worked with hundreds of coworkers and had no issues at all. But HR was completely biased in his favor. I'm not sure what other lies and half-truths he may have told HR, but they apparently thought that I might stalk him and his kids, and they had apparently hired a private investigator to follow me around for a few days after I was terminated.

Not only that, HR also apparently sent out an email asking people in my group to not contact me, and report to HR if I tried to contact anyone. Is this legal? This looks like it could be defamation of character or some other character assassination. If my former coworkers are suddenly asked to not contact me. I have lost friends because of this.

I think I need a psychologist to study and analyze this person's psychopathic behavior.

I feel there has been gross injustice to me, as this whole situation was caused by this person's weird behavior towards me, as I have never had any issues with anyone else. I explained this to HR, but they apparently did not believe me, or were biased against me because of some other factors.

I would like to take legal action against the company as well as this individual. What would be my best options?

Thank you.

 

[Just Blue]

What is the name of your state? Arizona

I'm a male. Frivolous accusations of (non-sexual) harassment and assault were made by another male employee to HR. This individual appears to be mentally unstable as his behavior towards me was oscillating between positive to negative without any reason. I was trying my best to be a good, friendly co-worker, and participated in activities such as hiking, going to happy hours, etc. This individual was very manipulative and seemed to have a "love-hate" relationship with me. He would mock, tease and taunt me, but would then say that it was all just "banter" or "I give him shit, he gives me shit". I tried to be good friends with him, hoping he would behave better towards me. I gave him gifts, but he freaked out and got really offended. On the other hand, he would copy me in every little detail as if I was his role model. He would make raunchy and offensive jokes but would get offended at jokes directed at him. Once he even said to another co-worker in my presence, that he said things just to "piss me off". He would talk to me in words that implied very close friendship. but when i believed the friendship to be genuine and gave him gifts, he got offended for some mysterious reason. When I asked him to hang out or do activities, he would say no, just to have that power over me. He would block my phone number for silly reasons. He would do little things that would appear like innuendo, but then when I would confront him, he would lie about these things, and completely deny them. I was completely deceived by his behavior. In summary, he pretended to HR that I was causing problems for him. But the truth was he provoked me, and my behavior was in reaction to his actions. I have worked with hundreds of coworkers and had no issues at all. But HR was completely biased in his favor. I'm not sure what other lies and half-truths he may have told HR, but they apparently thought that I might stalk him and his kids, and they had apparently hired a private investigator to follow me around for a few days after I was terminated.

Not only that, HR also apparently sent out an email asking people in my group to not contact me, and report to HR if I tried to contact anyone. Is this legal? This looks like it could be defamation of character or some other character assassination. If my former coworkers are suddenly asked to not contact me. I have lost friends because of this.

I think I need a psychologist to study and analyze this person's psychopathic behavior.

I feel there has been gross injustice to me, as this whole situation was caused by this person's weird behavior towards me, as I have never had any issues with anyone else. I explained this to HR, but they apparently did not believe me, or were biased against me because of some other factors.

I would like to take legal action against the company as well as this individual. What would be my best options?

Thank you.

I agree that it would be a very good idea for you to discuss this with a psychologist.

 

[quincy]

Here is a link to an overview of Arizona defamation law: http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/arizona-defamation-law

If you feel your reputation has been severely harmed by falsehoods told about you and communicated to others, you could discuss these falsehoods and the circumstances surrounding your dismissal from your job with an attorney in your area.

It appears the relationship you had with your coworker was misunderstood or misinterpreted by both of you.

Good luck.

 

[Taxing Matters]

What is the name of your state? Arizona
I would like to take legal action against the company as well as this individual. What would be my best options?

I'm assuming that the employer is not a government agency. If that is correct then there won't be any action to take against the employer unless you had a contract for some specific period of time that said you could not be fired for something like this during the contract term or you were a member of a union that had a collective bargaining agrement (CBA) with the employer and the CBA said you could not be fired for something like this. Outside of those situations, private employment in Arizona and just about every other state is at will, meaning that the employer and employee are free to terminate the employment relationship for any reason (except that for employers there are a few reasons for which they cannot terminate, most notably illegal discrimination and as retailiation for certain whistleblowing activities, and a few others).

You might have something to pursue against the other employee, though, and for that I would encourage you to see a civil litigation attorney in your area for advice.

 

[quincy]

A legal action potentially could be possible against the employer if the employer approved the sending of a "warning" letter about nonamer1 to the employees of the company, depending on all facts and the contents of the letter. This even if nonamer1's employment termination was legal.

 

[Taxing Matters]

A legal action potentially could be possible against the employer if the employer approved the sending of a "warning" letter about nonamer1 to the employees of the company, depending on all facts and the contents of the letter. This even if nonamer1's employment termination was legal.

Possibly. But if, as nonamer1 stated, the e-mail simply was "asking people in my group to not contact me, and report to HR if I tried to contact anyone" then I don't see any liability for the employer. On the other hand, if the e-mail made actual defamatory statements about him, that might be actionable. Of course, even then there is the issue of damages. I'm not seeing any actual damages from the e-mail. Still, it is worth asking about that when he sees the attorney. Hopefully he's got a copy of that e-mail, as the exact wording of it makes a difference

 

[quincy]

Possibly. But if, as nonamer1 stated, the e-mail simply was "asking people in my group to not contact me, and report to HR if I tried to contact anyone" then I don't see any liability for the employer. On the other hand, if the e-mail made actual defamatory statements about him, that might be actionable. Of course, even then there is the issue of damages. I'm not seeing any actual damages from the e-mail. Still, it is worth asking about that when he sees the attorney. Hopefully he's got a copy of that e-mail, as the exact wording of it makes a difference

I agree that the exact contents of the emails matter.

There does not have to be any economic harm suffered for there to be damages awarded in a defamation suit.

 

[Taxing Matters]

Damages do not have to be economic damages.

Not in all cases, no, but certainly for many cases actual damages are needed. Many states require actual (economic or pecuniary) damages for most defamation claims (other than those limited class of statements that qualify as defamation per se). The link that you provided for Arizona above confirms that Arizona too follows that basic distinction. Statements made that fall into defamation per se are typically the class of cases for which damage to reputation alone would be sufficient for a court to award money damages. But even if the statements do amount to per se defamation (and perhaps the claims made of assault would be defamation per se in this instance), my experience has been that in most instances without actual damages juries tend not to award much more than nominal damages for it unless the statements were truly shocking, offensive, or outrageous. In any event, how much actual damages there are is relevant to determining what potential any defamation case has.

 

[quincy]

I know all of that.

Nonamer1 was terminated from his job in addition to having a letter of some sort sent about him to his former coworkers.

If anything defamatory was actually communicated about him in the letters, or in comments made to others, nonamer1 might not have too difficult a time supporting damages.

He should review his termination, and what led up to it and what has followed, with a lawyer in his area well-versed in workplace defamation law.

 

[Taxing Matters]

I know all of that.

Yes but nonamer1 and others reading this thread may not.

And I think it's important for people to understand that in many defamation cases, plaintiffs don't win a huge award for simply having their reputation dinged. They are instead compensated for the actual economic harm suffered.

 

[quincy]

Yes but nonamer1 and others reading this thread may not.

And I think it's important for people to understand that in many defamation cases, plaintiffs don't win a huge award for simply having their reputation dinged. They are instead compensated for the actual economic harm suffered.

Nonamer1 will want to get a copy of the email that was sent to his former coworkers. Any attorney nonamer1 sees should be able to educate him on whether he has a good basis for a claim, and what to expect if he decides to pursue one.