Legal Question in Business Law in Massachusetts

Corporate Slander to Client

My Company recently landed a large software development contract, We narrowly beat out a few competitors for the contract. One of the competitors was aware of our winning the contract and we had worked with him in the past, the client knew this and he used that knowledge to call them ans slander us.

In this call he stated that we had no experience with this type of effort ( which is not the case and we have provided refernces for) as well as we did not know anything about the technology involved ( which is also not the case. Since we had not yet begun the contract this has put us in an awkward situation.

Since we do not want to have this happen again and since it is a niche market we would like to know if we have remedies against this individual. It is going to take many hours to reassure the client of our capabilities and I am sure this is going to make the project more difficult on several levels. Also the niche we both work in is small and we are worried that he will do it again.

What can we do and do we have a case against him. Our client told us what he had said and there were multiple witnesses to his comments on the client side.


Asked on 5/19/03, 2:52 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Lawrence Graves Coolidge & Graves PLLC

Re: Corporate Slander to Client

Yes, this conduct appears to be actionable and worth pursuing to ensure that it is not repeated. Most likely it is not worth pursuing as a damages case (since the defendant is unlikely to have significant assets, and you appear to have avoided economic losses in this instance).

Best wishes,

LDWG

Read more
Answered on 5/19/03, 2:59 pm
Nance Lyons Law Office of Nance Lyons

Re: Corporate Slander to Client

You do have valid claims and should move rapidly. first, to get the witnesses testimony under oath, second to let competitor know you will not tolerate this bahavior. You have claims for interference with advantageous relations/contract (question of actual damages in your case) business slander and violation of the MA consumer protection law which also protects businesses from abuse by unfair practices. This is an area I focus on.

Read more
Answered on 5/19/03, 3:00 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Business Law questions and answers in Massachusetts