Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

I wanted to know if I can get sued for exposing the woman my husband had an affair with to her friends and family. They are saying they are going to sue me for malicious intent because I was the one who contacted them. Nothing I said was false I even have proof


Asked on 7/22/13, 7:55 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Your question is about personal injury, not criminal law. Even so, I will answer it here.

There is no such thing in California as a lawsuit for "malicious intent". But California does recognize claims for invasion of privacy, false light publicity and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Your husband's lover might have viable claims against you for all of these things. But it sounds like the threats have come from her friends and family, not from her. Some immediate family members might have valid emotional distress claims against you.

It doesn't really matter that everything you said was true. Truth is a defense to a defamation lawsuit, but not to suits for invasion of privacy or intentional infliction -- or even false-light publicity, which involves the selective use of truthful statements to portray someone in a way that is false overall.

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Answered on 7/22/13, 12:45 pm


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