I was a contract employee for a company out of Canada (I'm in the US) and I'm so frustrated with my former employer / customer that I want to sue them for these reasons:

First; a few weeks after they notified my supervisor asked me if I needed any help in finding a job. When I told him the director level job at a specific company was available which I wanted to apply for he said in an email "I already spoke with that company and told them your background, and I told them you were a manager at best". FIrst, I don't know who the hell he thinks he is to do that but is that enough for a dafamation lawsuit?

Second, its been about 3 weeks since I left and he keeps sending me emails asking for documents, files, about contacts which I don't have have. I've told him they don't exist and he just doesn't believe me... at what point are his actions considered harassment?

Third, my role was commission based and I had contacts left to sign which I was told I would get commission on after the deals are signed. My supervisor took over the deals and is absolutely horrible at closing sales; he has lost one of the contracts already because of his unprofessionalism. Do I have any legal standing to sue for malicious actions?. I really think he's out to screw me over as much as he can and is even willing to loose sales if it helps his twisted plans... plus it's a lot of money on the line for me.

I am not the type of person to sue... I never have but I'm so frustrated that if I have to sue I want to go after them for everything and put this guy in his place.

So sue them, I could not follow what you had wrong except that you had contracts you had written that you were not paying paid for.

And I guess you did not like the reference they gave you.

I was a contract employee for a company out of Canada (I'm in the US) and I'm so frustrated with my former employer / customer that I want to sue them for these reasons:

First; a few weeks after they notified my supervisor asked me if I needed any help in finding a job. When I told him the director level job at a specific company was available which I wanted to apply for he said in an email "I already spoke with that company and told them your background, and I told them you were a manager at best". FIrst, I don't know who the hell he thinks he is to do that but is that enough for a dafamation lawsuit?

Second, its been about 3 weeks since I left and he keeps sending me emails asking for documents, files, about contacts which I don't have have. I've told him they don't exist and he just doesn't believe me....at what point are his actions considered harassment?

Third, my role was commission based and I had contacts left to sign which I was told I would get commission on after the deals are signed. My supervisor took over the deals and is absolutly horrible at closing sales; he has lost one of the contracts already because of his unprofessionalism. Do I have any legal standing to sue for malicious actions?....I really think he's out to screw me over as much as he can and is even willing to loose sales if it helps his twisted plans....plus its a lot of money on the line for me.

I am not the type of person to sue...I never have but I'm so frustrated that if I have to sue I want to go after them for everything and put this guy in his place.


I'll take this one thing at a time - no, saying you were a manager at best is not defamation. Here's something I wrote about defamation: "Briefly - Generally in law libel refers to permanent/written statements and slander refers to non-permanent/spoken statements. Defamation (of character) covers both categories. You must be damaged - and prove damages - in order to recover. The statements (either written or spoken) must be false but presented as though they were true and be beyond offensive, derogatory or insulting. Such statement must rise to a level which actually harms a person’s reputation. In general the person making the statement must either know it isn’t true or make the statement without attempting to verify if it is true. The defense to defamation is that the information was not presented as the truth (which covers gossip), that the information was never secret (privileged) and was always public." "Who the H*ll he thinks he is" is immaterial.

Send him a letter, return receipt, advising that you don't have whatever it is he is looking for. Advise him that further contact is harassment. If he continues to contact you, yes, it's harassment. At this point he's trying to get his "property" back by whatever means it takes.

If the next person in line cannot close on sales you started unless you can PROVE it's malicious, you have no case. You've already said he's absolutely horrible at closing sales so the fact that you lost commissions appears to simply be part of his past history (and inability to close a sale). It can't be both ways - malicious AND incompetency.

A lawsuit will never put anybody "in his place." The Courts are not a method to bludgeon your enemies.

I see nothing actionable here. Frustrating, yes. Upsetting, yes. Actionable? No.