united-states defamation workplace
How can you say a developer is bad without being subject to a defamation lawsuit?
<p>How can you say a developer is bad without being subject to a defamation lawsuit? If I add &quot;this is my opinion, you can come to your own conclusions&quot;, does this still leave me vulnerable to a defamation lawsuit? How so? If I am not expression a statement of fact, and I deliberately say it's my own opinion, how can I still be?</p>

<p>As others have said, this is jurisdiction dependent. The following is from a US perspective.</p>
<p>In short, you can't say &quot; a developer is bad&quot; (which a reasonable person would interpret as referring to the developer's skills, professionalism or character), and not risk a lawsuit.</p>
<p>Merely labeling something as your opinion, does not make it statement of opinion. The difference between fact and opinion is that a statement of fact is falsifiable according, while an statement of opinion is not. This is especially relevant because under US law, proving falseness of the offending statement is a required portion of the plaintiff's case.</p>
<p>Note that the above statement is not only potentially defamatory, but (in my non-lawyer opinion) seems likely defamation <em>per se</em> (which means that the plaintiff does not need to prove actual damage from the statement).</p>
<p>For example, in TRONFELD v. NATIONWIDE MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY (<a href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/va-supreme-court/1194415.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://caselaw.findlaw.com/va-supreme-court/1194415.html</a>), the statement that a lawyer &quot;just takes peoples' money&quot; was found to be inherently defamatory <em>per se</em>.</p>
<p>That's not necessarily to say that a lawsuit would necessarily prevail (the developer would have to prove the statement, that they (and/or presumably their work and/or skills) are not &quot;bad&quot;, on the balance of probabilities), but it would clear the bar that the statement was not an opinion, and so could not be dismissed on those grounds.</p>
<p>One might be legally safer, if one very much wants to complain about a developer, to mention easier to verify <strong>true</strong> statements (e.g. if work was not completed to specification, or to contracted schedule), or genuine unverifiable opinions (e.g. &quot;I was not satisfied with the work; I thought the graphic was ugly&quot;, because ugly is subjective).</p>
<p>Note that there are not &quot;magic words&quot;; context matters. The best way to avoid a lawsuit is to avoid negative comments.</p>
<p>Also note, that depending on the state and specifics, Anti-SLAPP laws might come into play (potentially in your favor).</p>
