Legal Question in Personal Injury in California
What defines defamation of character?
When I was a young adolescent, my parents divorced and my father was awarded custody of my brothers and I. Inside of a few years after the divorce, my father remarried a divorcee with three children of her own. And shortly thereafter, I petitioned and won a change of custody for myself and my younger brother (the elder had already been thrown out over a dispute regarding my father's wife). As I recall it, the change of custody was awarded based on the home situation being abusive with my father and his wife - and it was. However, since then, it appears that they have been speaking to other family members at length without my permission with regard to some deeply personal matters I would rather never saw the light of day again, over the past 25 years, and have been embelishing upon them to the point I find the statements they have made defamatory, untrue and slanderous.
What legal recourse do I have to stop them or hold them accountable for this sort of attack on my identity? I have had no contact with this part of my family (with just cause) for over 25 years. Is this defamation of character? Slander?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: What defines defamation of character?
Defamation is the overal name for both slander (oral) and libel (written) publication of untruths, or even truths, for the purpose of injuring the subject, either personally or financially. There is a category of statements known as libel or slander "per se," that is statements which on their very face damage the individual about whom they are made in their business, community reputation, etc. Your father is certainly not exempt from such actions especially when the damage is intended.
Re: What defines defamation of character?
It is entirely possible that you have a cause of action for "defamaton" against your father and step-mother. However, in order to determine whether the statements made by your father and step-mother are sufficient to based a lawsuit on,
you will need to speak with an attorney in your area. Only after you describe the statements, to whom they were made, and the circumstances surrounding the making of the statements, can an attorney advise you whether you should proceed with a lawsuit.
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