I was witness to my program director making a public comment during an open County Commissioners Budget Meeting. She said that she works with "..a band of misfits", and that the workplace has been called, "a land of misfit toys".

The program that she "directs" is made up of individuals, who live with mental health and/or substance abuse challenges in their lives, and maintain a recovery-oriented lifestyle too.

My question is whether the above quoted comments are slanderous and/or defamatory? And, if so, whether she can be held libel for these comments by her professional colleagues within the working environment?

Hello d:

In order for it to be slander it has to be UNTRUE. While it may not be NICE to call them misfits, it certainly is TRUE.

The second part of a slander lawsuit is damages. Again, while it may not be NICE to say that, it didn't cause them any monetary damages.

So, no. She did nothing legally wrong.

excon

It may well be against some company policy or against social norms. ( it is of course not politically correct) since it was public, where their bosses there ?

If you want to report it to the HR of your company you can of course depending upon the nature of the management, they may
1. counsel the manager, 2. require him to take additional training to better understand the feelings of others

You of course could easily expect to be the target of managemenet

I don't think there is any grounds for slander as the individual's names were not used and they were not specifically individually addressed and/or pointed out. It was just a blanket statement made about a group of people. What would the group's damages be? Name calling does not count in court.