Legal Question in Discrimination Law in Pennsylvania
Defamation / slander by a school offical toward my child
School started 2 weeks ago and already my son has been falsely accused by the principal of 2 things. This is nothing new, my son had been a wipping boy since the 1st grade. I recieved a letter stating my son was cussing on the bus. I spoke ot my son who told me that he was involved in a conversation where another boy cussed. A girl overheard it and reported it. My son and 2 others were brought to the office, they were questioned by the principal. I called her to discuss it and was told that my son admitted he was the one who cussed. She then goes into how concerned she is that my son is lying to me. I saw one of the other boys(with his parnet) and asked them about the incident. I was told by the other boy ''I don't know why your son got in trouble, your son did not cuss. I did.'' Now I have the principal of the school lying to me about my sons behavior. Is there any legal recourse? Is this slander/ defamation/ libel? Please help me, I am at my wits end. My son is a good kid and does not deserve the bad name I feel the principal has made for him. This is his last year there and I don't want these false accusations following him to middle school. Thank you for your time with this.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Defamation / slander by a school offical toward my child
Defamation is an unprivileged publication of a defamatory
statement to a third person. This is a simple sentence
with a bunch of loaded words. The key to your fact pattern
in my view is the "unprivileged" part and the "defamatory"
part. The bus driver took information from perception of
the situation or from statements of other children. Then it
was communicated to the principal. The principal
communicated it to your child and you. It all is
"privileged" since the chain of communication is
necessary to administer the policies of the school district.
Furthermore, the information communicated is not defamatory.
To be defamatory the statement must be more than an opinion
but rather a statement of fact that is in fact false and harms
the recipient's reputation. But not all things said about
another that are bad in some way are treated the same. "You
are a thief" implies that you are dishonest and if you can
prove the other elements of defamation entitle one to damages
without proving a specific loss. (special damages) On the other
hand other types of defamation (you are a loose woman) do not
imply specific illegal or bad acts may be actionable but one
has to prove a specific harm. You rarely see successful
defamation claims because of the practical difficulties and
legal barriers to a prosecution. Furthermore, these cases
do not have much "jury appeal" unless someone has been very
stupid. In your case there is no defamation in mistakenly
accusing a child of misconduct. (A jury would be thinking,
"this happens all the time, what is the big deal?") Furthermore,
what is the economic harm. Cursing, even by young
children is not particularly shameful. I think you will
resolve the situation through informal communication with
better results than through any legal recourse.
Bill McLaughlin 610-644-4545
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