Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New York
Is this Slander or Libel ?
About 4 months ago my company sold a used auto to a 21 year old.This vehicle was made ready for sale according to NY state standards.Inspected and delivered.My company also made 3 repairs to non-warranted issues after it had been driven over 3000 miles. There have been three or four confrontations with the parent of the person who purchased the auto since the second day of delivery.Now the vehicle is parked in their front yard with writing on it that names my company followed by the word JUNK! There has been physical damage done to the cars body after the sale.
Can they do this?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Is this Slander or Libel ?
Sure sounds like slander to me. Slander is a statement of fact (not opinion) which is false, and which is known by the utterer to be false, which causes injury to you. In the case of slander to you in your business or trade, it's slander per se, so you don't have to prove any special damages (like a lost sale, or sales).
The question here, or the main question, is whether this is a statement of opinion (in which case it's not actionable) or a suggestion that your company sold them a lemon in violation of the NYS Lemon Law on used cars.
It doesn't take too much to pursue your rights, of course, in the Small Claims court. You can seek up to $3,000 in damages. The risk is that they assert a counterclaim under the Lemon Law.
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