Legal Question in Legal Ethics in California
can i sue for liable or what is my recourse?
I, as well as fellow exhibitors who exhibit and sell merchandise within a trade show circuit which travels and shows throughout the country have been struggling with a vendor who states negative or false information to customers about her competitors who approach her booth holding our business cards. In other words, she will say anything to kill sales or get business and is very successful in doing so. We have approached our tradeshow organization with this problem and she has been warned on several occasions by the promoters as well as vendors, but after many years of this same problem, it appears that she is going no where. What legal rights do we have against slander? Should I and my fellow exhibitors hire secret shoppers and attempt to record negative comments as evidence and possibly sue for slander? Most of us are jewelers and rely soley on our tradeshow business to make a living and this problem needs to be finally resolved. thanks.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: can i sue for liable or what is my recourse?
Follow Mr. Lee's excellent advice.
Re: can i sue for liable or what is my recourse?
On an informal level, short of litigation, can you and your fellow exhibitors put any greater pressure on the tradeshow organization? Would the organization feel your collective loss much more than the loss of this one vendor?
Beyond that, your remedy is a lawsuit based on defamation. Your particular case falls within the category called slander per se because the statements were made about your business or profession. In these cases, economic damages are presumed and the burden falls on Defendant to disprove them. You must still prove the elements that Defendant made the statements and that someone actually heard them. Mere insults are not sufficient - you need allegations of fact.
I would caution you against sending plants over wearing a wire. You already know this is occurring, so obviously someone has brought it to your attention. Use those people who are informing you of these occurrences as witnesses. Get the contact information of any other people who bring the remarks to your attention.
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