employment
Employer is damaging my reputation with client
<p>I took a job a year ago for which I am significantly over-qualified, because it allowed me to work from home while I convalesced from two major surgeries. During that time, I have observed myriad opportunities to improve operations and brought many of those to my management but virtually all were ignored. So, I have thrice over several months proposed to higher management that I move to a new role, but due to incredibly high management turnover there has also been to no progress there.</p>

<p>My employer is a service outsourcing business, and while this was unfolding the client of theirs I essentially work for posted an opening for a job with a description essentially identical to that I have been proposing to my employer, and I indicated to a colleague that I would be applying for it. This information became known to my management, who NOW became interested and called me into a meeting with the intention of terminating me, which I have theater temporarily by virtue of belonging to multiple protected employee classes.</p>

<p>As a result of that meeting, my direct supervisor and her boss have begun a campaign of harassment. Most of that is typical and not germaine to my issue for this forum, which is that they are also actively working to denigrate my relationship with the client, using demonstrably false information. Can I halt that behavior, and/or Sue for the damage to my ability to later work for the client?</p>

<p>It may be worth noting that no NDA nor non-compete prevents me from going to work for/with the client.</p>

<p>Thanks very much in advance for your help.</p>

<p>If a person disseminates false statements about you, you could sue them for defamation, and recover for whatever damage you can prove they have done to you. However, the statements have to be false statements of fact, and not negative opinions which are neither true not false. It matters what the actual statement is. A statement like "JP has a negative attitude" is an opinion and not a statement of fact, so that would not support a claim of defamation (<a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/497/1/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">specifically</a>, "statements that cannot reasonably be interpreted as stating actual facts about an individual are protected"), but a statement like "JP has managed to show up sober over the past 2 weeks" implies that JP has otherwise been showing up drunk. The challenge will be proving that they made such a statement.</p>
