ABA Family Legal Guide

Personal Injury

Intentional Wrongs

What about someone hurting our reputation? Is that a tort?

Yes. The tort of defamation involves your reputation. If something is said or shown to a third person and is understood by that person to lower your reputation, or keep others from associating with you, you may have a defamation claim. Libel and slander are two types of de-famation.

To recover for defamation, you have to prove that the information is false and defamatory. (If something is false, but doesn't damage reputation, there isn't a claim.) The defendants can raise truth as a defense. That is, if they can prove that what they said or wrote about you was true, then there is no slander or libel. Your consent to the publication of defamatory matter concerning yourself is a complete defense as well.

Defamation generally is easier to prove if you are a private person. Courts treat public officials and figures differently from private persons in deciding whether someone has defamed them. Public figures must show that the speaker or publisher either knew the words were false or made the statement with reckless disregard for the truth. Courts have established certain constitutional protections for statements about public officials. That is why they must show that the speaker or the publisher made the statement knowing it was false--or seriously doubting its truth. Private individuals must show only that the defendant was negligent in that he or she failed to act with reasonable care in the situation.