Neighbor Told Another Neighbor That I Called Protective Services

[NewJerseySouth]

My question involves defamation in the state of: NJ


There are a bunch of kids in the neighborhood that play together.

There is one child that lives in a very unstable home environment.

The gossip I heard from other neighbors was bad and I was told that the family has had protective services visit them in the past.

The parents are scary, both felons, so it's best just to smile and wave.

Fast forward, someone called on the child and protective services came out.

The mother went from neighbor to neighbor crazy crazy asking if "you made the call"

When she came to my house, scared the heck out me, she said "JANE" said that I was the one that called. Excuse me? I'm friends with Jane.

After calming the mother down, and telling her that I didn't call, I walked to Jane's house.

She admitted that she did tell the mom that I called, and If I ever called on her I would be "hurt".

Yea, this was a "friend"

It turns out that JANE and the mom have butt heads in the past, and for some reason, she decided to throw me under the bus.

I sent her an email and told her not to slander me to anyone in the neighborhood about this false claim.

And for the record, I didn't call, and I think JANE did, and is freaking out and picked me as her scapegoat.

Do I have any recourse if she continues to tell all the neighbors?

[Mr. Knowitall]

You can tell them, "I did not make the call."

[PandorasBox]

...and I would not recommend being friends with Jane anymore....

[NewJerseySouth]

Thanks, I'm not, LOL... so what she did wouldn't fall under the umbrella of slander?

[aardvarc]

Even if it did...

Does she HAVE anything worth suing for? If not, then it doesn't matter if it was the biggest slander in the history of the world....unless you happen to be made of money to pursue the lawsuit out of your own pocket and are prepared to be happy with just a moral victory. Otherwise, what would be gained by a suit?

Then, assuming she's got anything worth winning (remember, in civil suits that the court makes you "whole" by awarding damages)...

What quantifiable damages have you suffered? What will you put on your spreadsheet, and how will you assign a dollar value to whatever you're claiming? What income did you loose? What cost did you incur? What property did you have to replace? What changed about your finances, property value, etc. by how much did it change, and how did you arrive at those figures? You don't just get an award for winning and hope it's a good prize, you ASK the court to award a specific amount correlated to specific damages you blame on the defendant. Unless you happen to be a public figure, trying to attach substantial monetary value to a reputation won't be worth the money it costs you to file the case.

Simply having people suspect you as the reporting party doesn't in and of itself give rise to a cause of action. Heck, there are some people who would even be proud and willing to announce to the whole world that they WERE the ones who called, in the name of protecting the children, even if they didn't actually call. Some people would call making the report being a tattle tale...other people would call it having the guts to actually DO something about a wrong in their community.

[NewJerseySouth]

Even if it did...

Does she HAVE anything worth suing for? If not, then it doesn't matter if it was the biggest slander in the history of the world....unless you happen to be made of money to pursue the lawsuit out of your own pocket and are prepared to be happy with just a moral victory. Otherwise, what would be gained by a suit?

Then, assuming she's got anything worth winning (remember, in civil suits that the court makes you "whole" by awarding damages)...

What quantifiable damages have you suffered? What will you put on your spreadsheet, and how will you assign a dollar value to whatever you're claiming? What income did you loose? What cost did you incur? What property did you have to replace? What changed about your finances, property value, etc. by how much did it change, and how did you arrive at those figures? You don't just get an award for winning and hope it's a good prize, you ASK the court to award a specific amount correlated to specific damages you blame on the defendant. Unless you happen to be a public figure, trying to attach substantial monetary value to a reputation won't be worth the money it costs you to file the case.

Simply having people suspect you as the reporting party doesn't in and of itself give rise to a cause of action. Heck, there are some people who would even be proud and willing to announce to the whole world that they WERE the ones who called, in the name of protecting the children, even if they didn't actually call. Some people would call making the report being a tattle tale...other people would call it having the guts to actually DO something about a wrong in their community.

Okay, thank you for your post.
I had no idea all that went into a slander suit, as it seems that so many people are doing it.
Not worth it, she's not worth it.... Thanks again

[aardvarc]

Lots of people try to bring a suit, that's true...but very few GET any results.