LEGAL ISSUES

Legal Environment of Business



Contents

Introduction2

Slander and Libel2

Defamation Per se and its Categories3

Loathsome Disease3

Moral Turpitude3

Un-chastity3

Business or Professional Reputation4

Requirements of Libel4

Impact of Dr. Gonzales' name on Lawsuit5

Case and the implications5

Conclusion6

Legal Environment of Business

Part I

Introduction

This case presents the issue Dr. Mylee Gonzales faced who had a dental office, and a new client Charles Friedman passed negative comments about the dental office and its service. These negative comments were causing defamation to the office, and other patients were also taking those comments negatively. Dr. Mylee Gonzales business got affected, and he claimed that proper information about the cavities was provided to the new patient. Difference in cost of silver cavity was also presented to the patient. Hence the Doctor was seeking to go to court for the solution of this problem and was thinking about different possibilities.

Part II

Slander and Libel

The terms slander and libel both are used for spreading defamation about a certain entity or organization. This could be done through word of mouth and creating conspiracy against any individual or organization. There are various methods to achieve this goal. These rumors or conspiracy could be started through writing different comments at various places or through conveying wrong messages about individual or organization through verbal communication. The message spread through written words is known as Libel while rumors sent through verbal communication or any other source is known as Libel. In this case, Charles Friedman passed various written comments on the poor service of Bright Smiles. He did not spread the message verbally and never used the name of Doctor. That is why this act could be termed as Libel rather than Slander.

Defamation Per se and its Categories

Defamation Per se is a term used when an individual tries to hurt the reputation of another individual without the providing any evidence for the claim. This is usually done through the spread of defamatory rumors about the individual either in writing or verbally Cal. Civ. Code §45 & 47. The four categories of Defamation Per se are as follows:

Loathsome Disease

This type of defamation per se claims that the individual has a Loath Disease. It could also involve sexually transmitted diseases.

Moral Turpitude

It is an allegation that the other person is involved in any criminal activity like theft, rape etc.

Un-chastity

It is a claim that the person is not chaste meaning he or she is a virgin and could not be involved in sexual intercourse.

Business or Professional Reputation

It is the last form of Defamation Per se; it involves an individual defaming Business and Professional Reputation of any other individual which makes an impact on his business or work.

Defamation per se is usually used for Libel. Since the patient only passed comments through writing, it is not an example of defamation per se (Di Giorgio Fruit Corp. v. American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations,215 Cal.App.2d 560).

Requirements of Libel

To file a case against the defamatory action, the victim party must fulfill four requirements (Smith ...