Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in Georgia

Defamation of character-libel

My husband and I started receiving unidentified letters in the mail that were harassing, libel, etc. which the info in the ltrs indicates his exwife is involved in sending them. The main issue is that MY employer also received letters, but this time they were signed by my husband's ex-wife's Aunt. The Aunt asked in the letter for the church (my employer) to investigate me and do ''what is necessary'' implying I be fired due to these false accusations and statements. I had to defend myself and my employer had to rerun a criminal background check on me just to be sure that the information they received in this ltr was in fact untrue, and they did that my background was clean and I got to keep my job, at least for that very moment. This Aunt admitted to sending these ltrs under oath in a TPO hearing we had against his exwife b/c of these letters. I just recently lost that job b/c I had to go out on bedrest due to preterm labor problems. I was out of work longer than the FMLA 12wks so they let me go. This Aunt also sent a libel ltr to my father.These false statements have resulted in personal and professional embarassment and I feel it was related to my job loss. Not to mention a disruptive family life. Do I have a good case?


Asked on 5/26/06, 11:12 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Paula McGill Attorney at Law

Re: Defamation of character-libel

It appears that you have all the elements of a libel. I assume all the defamatory statements were written to third persons and not spoken. Otherwise, you may also have a slander claim.

However, these claims are difficult to prove and there are issues of proof, damages, and ability for the defendant to pay any verdict if she does not have insurance.

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Answered on 5/28/06, 3:15 pm


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