Twitter Defamation

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goosebump

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I recently made a "mean" remark to a well known person with significant media profile on Twitter. They responded by tweeting about me, in which:

- They made a wildly inaccurate claim that presented me in a very poor light
- They tagged my company (a publicly listed company with several thousand employees)
- They tagged the CEO of my company

The following day the CEO, having seen the tweet, contacted my boss and told him to tell me not to engage with this person on Twitter again, because this person was a friend of theirs. Please note that I have never referred to my employment or employer on Twitter. It is not in my profile. The person looked me up on LinkedIn. They have 100k+ followers.

I contacted several solicitors about this.

Two of them came back to me and said the action was defamatory, but there was no guarantee I could win a case, and that I would have to accept 50/50 odds.
A third (who seemed a bit odd) told me I shouldn't be annoying people on Twitter ( I ignored him ).

Of the former two, one indicated that he had a barrister interested in the case. I didn't hear from him for several weeks. He then got back to me to say the barrister hadn't responded, but he now had another barrister involved. That was 3 weeks ago, and I haven't heard anything. I emailed looking for an update last week, but got no reply.

This week I tried a few more defamation solicitors. One got back with a 1 liner: we are unable to help you. No reply from the others.

Can anyone give me any advice here? I have a good job and good income and have no difficulty in paying legal fees. I have said this to all the solicitors.

I keep reading about people going to High Court because they were called a name by a bus driver or thrown out of pub. My reputation with my employer, my CEO and my boss has been seriously impaired, and I can't seem to get any help. I'm not looking for a pay out. I just want this person to correct their tweet, apologise and inform my employer.
 
So let me get this straight...

You made mean comment about someone famous via Twitter. This person then replied with a mean comment and tagged the company that you work for and its CEO. The CEO advised you, indirectly, that you should not engage with the celebrity via Twitter.

And you want to sue the celebrity?
 
You have been told not to engage with the, "well known person" again. Your managers are very understanding despite not knowing what 'twitter' is.

Social media is new territory for HR and a beast that will need to be dealt with.

I work in HR. If if your line manager/CEO wanted something like this to use against you, they would have.

What I'm saying is they really took no notice but asked you not to add anything that might add to the fire. In my opinions seeking legal advise from several sources will add to the fire.

Your managers did not say it was a disciplinary issue. In the future it will be, if it suits. College students are now being given advised how to conduct themselves on social media.

You say you have a 'good job and income'. Keep your job and stop wasting your income.

Set up a new twitter.

I have a work twitter where I do the licks, sorry likes.

I never use my work phone for stuff like this.

I never use my personal phone for work related stuff ie: commenting on social media during working hours.

I hope this helps.
 
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Defamation is a sport for the very rich or the very poor. The very rich can afford to lose. The very poor have nothing to lose. You, on the other hand, have a good job and income. Unless it is a very good job indeed, well into six-figure territory, you can't afford the risk of loss.
 
goosebump said:
A third (who seemed a bit odd) told me I shouldn't be annoying people on Twitter
Click to expand...

goosebump said:
One got back with a 1 liner: we are unable to help you.
Click to expand...


becky said:
What I'm saying is they (my employers) really took no notice but asked you not to add anything that might add to the fire.
Click to expand...

goosebump said:
Can anyone give me any advice here?
Click to expand...

It seems to me that you are already surrounded by reasonable people and good advisors.

Brendan
 
If your primary concern is your reputation, why do you think taking a case against this person will improve it ?

The "celebrity" is likely to defend the action, putting all the attention on your original tweet i.e He started it and you will come out looking worse. This might make the papers if it is a slow news day .
 
Gordon Gekko said:
So let me get this straight...

You made mean comment about someone famous via Twitter. This person then replied with a mean comment and tagged the company that you work for and its CEO.
Click to expand...

The celebrity did not make a "mean" tweet. They claimed that I did a very specific thing, which I can demonstrably prove I did not do.
 
What do you want to achieve?
  1. Financial recompense;
  2. The tweet taken down;
  3. Both.

Otherwise @becky has a point. If you feel the need to engage a lot on twitter, then do it under a different identity. Don't get me wrong, I really love twitter, but I have a pseudonymous account and never tweet. Twitter is a bear pit and if you engage a lot there is too much scope for it to spill over badly into personal and work life.
 
becky said:
You have been told not to engage with the, "well known person" again. Your managers are very understanding despite not knowing what 'twitter' is.
Click to expand...


becky said:
Your managers did not say it was a disciplinary issue. In the future it will be, if it suits. College students are now being given advised how to conduct themselves on social media.
Click to expand...

What I do in my private life, outside business hours, is of no concern to my employer. My employer has already acknowledge that they shouldn't have intervened. It was a knee jerk reaction.
 
NoRegretsCoyote said:
What do you want to achieve?
  1. Financial recompense;
  2. The tweet taken down;
  3. Both.

Otherwise @becky has a point. If you feel the need to engage a lot on twitter, then do it under a different identity. Don't get me wrong, I really love twitter, but I have a pseudonymous account and never tweet. Twitter is a bear pit and if you engage a lot there is too much scope for it to spill over badly into personal and work life.
Click to expand...

Twitter being a bear pit does not make it legal to use it to defame people.

I have already been told by 2 solicitors that the action by the other party was defamatory and actionable.

I was asking for advice on securing legal assistance. I was not looking for actual legal advise from AAM, contrary to some of the replies here.
 
huskerdu said:
If your primary concern is your reputation, why do you think taking a case against this person will improve it ?

The "celebrity" is likely to defend the action, putting all the attention on your original tweet i.e He started it and you will come out looking worse. This might make the papers if it is a slow news day .
Click to expand...

Not looking for amateur legal advice here, but for what it's worth, the celebrity claimed I committed a specific act, which paints me in a very poor light. I did not commit this act, and I can prove I did not commit this act. I have no fear of any further attention being drawn to the tweet.
 
You have contacted a number of solicitors.
Most have not replied or given you a negative reply.
Two have said that you have a 50/50 chance of success but have not shown a huge amount of enthusiam for taking the case ( evidenced by the fact that they are slow to reply).

If you are asking us how to get a solicitor to take the case, then I dont know how to help except to say that it doesnt sound promising.

Also, what was Twitters reply when you reported the tweet ?
 
huskerdu said:
You have contacted a number of solicitors.
Most have not replied or given you a negative reply.
Two have said that you have a 50/50 chance of success but have not shown a huge amount of enthusiam for taking the case ( evidenced by the fact that they are slow to reply).

If you are asking us how to get a solicitor to take the case, then I dont know how to help except to say that it doesnt sound promising.

Also, what was Twitters reply when you reported the tweet ?
Click to expand...

I originally contacted 2 solicitors.

Both got back to me within 4 hours. The first wanted to meet me in the Four Courts the following day. They then postponed that meeting because they wanted to include a barrister at the same sit down. There was absolutely no lack of enthusiasm. They asked me to send them a dossier with all the information. They reviewed that. No change in their position. Said they couldn't get in touch with the barrister since the lockdown, and was now talking to another barrister. Then, silence.

The second was similar. Called me back immediately and said they were bringing matter to attention of partner. They then told me partner had recently been involved in car crash, and had limited capacity to take on new cases, but if I wanted to proceed, I had actionable case but no guarantees. I have asked for a meeting (which I would pay for). No response.

These two ^^ were solicitors who specialise in defamation.

The guy who told me I shouldn't be annoying people on Twitter was a guy I was recommended to my a friend, who doesn't actually deal in defamation.
 
goosebump said:
I have already been told by 2 solicitors that the action by the other party was defamatory and actionable.L
Click to expand...

“Lawyers tells potential client that he or she ‘has a case’ shocker!”

You have been and still are embarrassing yourself and you will learn a very expensive lesson if you pursue this nonsense.

The adults in the room seem to be the company CEO and your immediate boss. Follow their guidance and forget about this absolute nonsense. April 1st was weeks ago.
 
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