Unjust Vexation? Slander? Oral Defamation? Libel? HELP!

Good day!

Here's the situation. One of my co-workers forgot to log out his FB in the office, then unfortunately, the management took advantage of it reading his messages. The problem is they found one of his conversation with a friend telling how incompetent our boss is. He told that our boss is "pulpol" for not knowing the work process etc... and he's been caught lying because he also mentioned to his friend that he applied in another company while saying to the management he needs to get a leave for going somewhere else. Now they have screenshots of that conversation. Before that he was going to file a case to DOLE for us not having paid for the whole month of April 2016 and some not being paid for almost 2 months. Now the company is using those screenshots and told him that before he file a complaint to DOLE, they would file a case against him first because of that conversation. It's kind of a black mail sort or a counter so he wouldn't file a case. He is now resigned and no longer working with the company. Could somebody please help us? Are the things he did suffice to be filed under Unjust Vexation? Slander? Oral Defamation? Libel? He really wants to file a complaint in DOLE for not being paid a whole month but he's afraid the company will sue him. Please help!

He may be liable for any charges the company may file for slander and other similar actions.

council wrote:He may be liable for any charges the company may file for slander and other similar actions.

Wasn't slander supposed to be Oral? I think Libel is more appropriate since it is written right? but it wasn't published. It is a private conversation. Could you please give more details regarding the case?

Thanks

Slander ito. Libel would only apply if thru mass media ang paglabag. Newspaper,tv, radio.

lukekyle wrote:Slander ito.  Libel would only apply if thru mass media ang paglabag.  Newspaper,tv, radio.

Ahhh kasi ang pagkakaintindi ko sa slander is verbal or oral.

"Under common law, to constitute defamation, a claim must generally be false and have been made to someone other than the person defamed.[2] Some common law jurisdictions also distinguish between spoken defamation, called slander and defamation in other media such as printed words or images, called libel.[3]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defamation#Slander

Question lang why is it important for you to differentiate between the 2? The jail term ba?

lukekyle wrote:Question lang why is it important for you to differentiate between the 2?  The jail term ba?

Gusto kasi namin malaman kung ano ang dapat namin paghandaan or labanan. Kasi Dapat mag fifile kami ng complaint sa DOLE dahil si company eh 1 month and 1 week ng di nagpapasahod. Ang problema eh di kami makapag file dahil sa banta na kakasuhan daw sya, either slander or libel etc... kaya need namin malaman para alam namin ang gagawin naming move.

Its not the jail terms lang but the punishment too. If proven guilty how much yung gagastusin nya etc... kasi if it's so little, we would file a complaint na sa DOLE. Yun kasi yung hold back. If we file, they file.

I would be worried more about the jail term, hindi biro ang mabilango. Medyo grey area i think ang facebook posts. Slander by deed? Cybercrime libel? remember sa libel "There is publication if the material is communicated to a third person." Its up to the affected party to file a case so I would advice you to consult a lawyer.

^^para lang clear 2nd person refers to the person being libeled/slandered. 3rd person is any other person na nakadinig/basa nung offending material

lukekyle wrote:I would be worried more about the jail term, hindi biro ang mabilango.  Medyo grey area i think ang facebook posts.  Slander by deed? Cybercrime libel? remember sa libel "There is publication if the material is communicated to a third person."  Its up to the affected party to file a case so I would advice you to consult a lawyer.  

Actually personal conversation nilang dalawang mag kaibigan yun. They are talking about our boss. He told his friend that "eh itong pulpol na boss namin blah blah blah" at yun nga naiwan sa office so binasa ng management yung conversation at kumuha ng screen shots bago I log out yung Facebook account nya. Ang alam ko kasi pinag pipilitan ng boss namin na gawin ang isang work process na wala naman syang kaalam alam talaga (boss) sa sinasabi nya.

As far as I know the jailtime for minimum offense is 6 months and for medium offense is 2 years.

He thinks that those FB screenshots, madali lang pabulaanan. It's their burden to either prove that he is the one who has control over it that time or the management itself since he left his account logged in.

yes personal conversations kasama dun kasi your friend told a 3rd party about it.

I don't agree, ang paratang is that your friend said/wrote something to a 3rd party which besmirches the bosses's reputation.

They will use the screen shots as proof. I don't know if this will be accepted as proof. Pero if it is, it is not their responsibility to prove it "who was in control". Its your friends account kaya the assumption is yung friend mo ang in control. It is up to your friend to prove if he was not the one who wrote it.

Kasi using your reasoning, no one will ever be convicted of libel, dahil you're assuming the offended party will have to prove na the author was really the one who wrote it.
For example if it was a letter, you're saying kelangan pa ng handwriting expert to prove na it was his signature. This is simply not the case.

Anyways best consult a lawyer nalang so you can discuss the specific details of the potential case