defamation in corporate communication

DEFAMATION IN CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

DEFAMATION

Defamation is a communication which exposes a person to hatred, ridicule, or contempt, lowers him in the esteem of his fellows, causes him to be shunned or injures him in his business or calling. (Phelps & Hamilton, 1996)

As a corporate communication personnel when dealing with the defamatory cases or word or sentence you must be able to know the following element of defamation as follows below

Elements of defamation

1. The words or statement must refer to the plaintiff

This means the statement must refer to the claimant; it should identify him or her. In order for the words or statement to be considered defamatory of an individual or plaintiff, they must either refer or identify an individual expressly or be such that reasonable people reading them will have no doubt in their mind that they refer to the particular person alleging that he has been defamed.

In plaintiff the words or statements damages someone in relation to his official, professional or business reputation,  the words must be spoken with the effect of implying that the individual lacks essential for the office, profession or business such as honesty, fidelity, capacity, competence, experience, qualification, knowledge, skills, judgment or efficiency.

For such statements to succeed as defamatory the plaintiff must prove that;

(i) At the time the words were spoken he held such office or carried o0n such profession or trade.

(ii)The words relate to his conduct in the office, profession or trade.

 2. The words or statement must be defamatory

The statement referring to plaintiff must also be defamatory, either in their ordinary meaning or by implication. This is to mean that after identifying the words to an individual the same words also must be defamatory.

The intention of the person who uttered the words complained of is not material in determining whether the words are defamatory or not. The words or statements which either in their ordinary and natural meaning or secondary meaning or extended meaning would tend to lower the reputation of a person will Be Considered defamatory.

3. The words or statement must be false

For the words to succeed defamatory they must be false statement towards someone, which can damage or affect an individual reputation in the society. Unless the words have not been proved false then the statement is not defamatory.

4. The words or statement must be published

After the words being referred as plaintiff and defamatory they must also be published. If the words are only said to the person whom they concern, without being published, them defamation will not arise. This is because the defamation law seeks to protect one’s reputation, and reputation can be lowered in the estimation of the public, thus the defamatory words or statement must be published to the public.

Publication is making known of defamatory material to a person other than the one who the defamatory materials refer to; publication is the key to liability

By Mkula Dennis