Is this situation worth trying for slander?
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Is this situation worth trying for slander?
I owned a pet sitting/training business. I had a
lady bring me her puppy for training 200 she
claimed he threw up a sock and she took him
to the vet the next morning. She told me the bill
was 209 and she wanted a full reimbursement
for that. I told her I would reimburse her if she
provided me with the itemized vet bill because I
wouldnt refund her for routine vet care, she
refused. She told me I could contact her vet for
the bill, so I did with no response. She then
posted on Facebook a post stating I almost
killed her dog, and that Im an untrustworthy
person and to not trust my business. I lost
business over the post. She then said she
wanted reimbursed for the training fee because
it was not successful, she said this months
later. I do guarantee my training but not with
money back. She has since filed for small
claims court stating I refused to reimburse her
training fee, first Ive heard of her waiting that
training fee back originally she wanted the vet
bill back which I agreed to, now shes asking
for 350. I was just curious if I would have any
luck with slander/libel or something positive on
my side for this case. Thank you
Asked on July 10, 2019 under Personal Injury, Ohio
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 4 years ago | Contributor
Defamation is making an untrue statement or assertion of fact about you which damages your reputation. Claiming you are untrustworthy is not defamation, since that is an opinion, not a provable or disprovable statement of fact, and opinons are not defamation: the law allows people to have and state opinions. But claiming you "almost killed her dog" if you did not would be defamation, since that would be an untrue factual assertion or statement, and so if you believe you did not almost kill her dog, you could sue her for defamation on that basis.
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