Ask Me Help Desk - Can I file for defamation of Character or Slander

On Saturday, June 28th, my organization hosted a women's expo. The turnout of attendees were not as expected. As a result, I have 3 vendors who participated in the expo asking for their money back. All guildelines for vendors clearly state that all vendor booth sales are final. Since they are not getting their money back, they have called every venue that we host events at stating that our company has misrepresented ourselves and falsy adververtised information. At these events we can never guarantee attendance. As well, they are emailing sites that I advertise my events on and posting information letting people know not to support our organization: Are they allowed to do this, and can I file a suits against the two parties who are doing this.

Below is one of the comments posted.:
my opinion I would run as far from this event and any by Empowering Women to Succeed. I tell you this information so it does not happen to you. I believe Empowering Women to Succeed (EWTS) misrepresented their organization; false advertising & services were not delivered. Nothing about this event has stayed consistent. The date originally was to be June 21 in Plano and it was moved to June 28 in Richardson (were told by EWTS due to double booking by the Plano Centre).I personally spoke with Jo Rivers at the Plano Centre and she said, “We can't double book if there was NO contract signed and no money exchanged”. Ms. Rivers 972-516-5619 Plano Centre. When we arrived there was NO ONE from EWTS “Hospitality Team” as stated in the email received on 6-10 to receive our Vendor Packet and assignment. Later we were told by EWTS that we should have received the Vendor Packet via email. We were to have 10x10 booths and received 8x10. EWTS was to provide food for vendors and after MUCH complaints and vendors purchasing snacks from the vending machine or having a business partner go p/u food EWTS brought in 5-6 pizza from Domino's @$5 EACH and 3 2-liters of soft drink... We each received 1 slice of pizza and 1 1/2 inch of soft drink (it was later told to us by EWTS that the pizza was purchased with the intension of feeding the ONLY ladies that were complaining). We were also told by EWTS that the reason they did not bring in food is because Richardson Civic Center was going to charge an extra $100 to bring in food to the expo. We were told by EWTS that Richardson Civic Center did not allow them to place signage for the Expo outside the Civic Center. Donna Leech with the Richardson Civic Center stated that “Yes, they could have advertised with sign on Arapaho and the access to Highway 75 as long as they were in the guide lines and that RCC had metal frames that EWTS could have borrowed for the expo. Signage could be displayed at 6:00p the evening before the event.” We were also told that they advertised via door droppers, on the Valder Beebe show (Valder Beebe said she did NO advertising for the EWTS Expo on her show, radio and the Empowering Women to Succeed website. There was NO traffic for this event.Please contact Donna Leech, Richardson Civic Center at 972-744-4092 for additional information.

I see this as someone's opinion, an expression of their experience, and not slander/defamation. Of course, if you do go forward you would have to prove damages and that might be difficult.

Ok, those comments seem to contain a great deal of facts. Do you dispute the facts contained? They seem to have been very careful to stay on the legal side by documenting their statements.

Frankly, I see no cause of action unless they are posting lies. I think you made a big mistake in not giving them refunds even though they may not have been entitled to them. I suspect you are losing more than those refunds would have cost you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottGem

Ok, those comments seem to contain a great deal of facts. Do you dispute the facts contained? They seem to have been very careful to stay on the legal side by documenting their statements.

Frankly, I see no cause of action unless they are posting lies. I think you made a big mistake in not giving them refunds even though they may not have been entitled to them. I suspect you are losing more than those refunds would have cost you.

I do dispute a lot of the comments:
The fact is we changed the location of our event 4 months prior to June 28th, which we have every right to do so... at the time we only had 5 vendors listed, all of which were notified and given the opportunity to back out. We cannot guarantee attendance at the events, and did advertise. No we did not put signs out, but we did other advertising methods.

Not True: When we arrived there was NO ONE from EWTS “Hospitality Team” as stated in the email received on 6-10 to receive our Vendor Packet and assignment. Later we were told by EWTS that we should have received the Vendor Packet via emai

Not True: We were also told that they advertised via door droppers, on the Valder Beebe show (Valder Beebe said she did NO advertising for the EWTS Expo on her show, radio and the Empowering Women to Succeed website... EWTS only stated that Valder Beebe Radio Show sent out our event information in her newsletters.

So a lot of the information I do dispute.

All they said was that the date was changed. So that statement is factual.

You are claiming that someone was there handing out packets? Or are you disputing that they were told they should have recevied the packets by e-mail?

What about those other statements are untrue?

It still looks to me like it's a lot of he said/she said and not concrete proof. But feel free to consult an attorney. Clearly, you feel this is affecting your organization. If you can prove the harassment is unfounded and causing you losses, you may be able to build a case.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottGem

All they said was that the date was changed. So that statement is factual.

You are claiming that someone was there handing out packets? Or are you disputing that they were told they should have recevied the packets by e-mail?

What about those other statements are untrue?

It still looks to me like its a lot of he said/she said and not concrete proof. But feel free to consult an attorney. Clearly, you feel this is affecting your organization. If you can prove the harassment is unfounded and causing you losses, you may be able to build a case.

I think the posted comments are worded to stay this side of the Law - again, I see no action here and I suspect an Attorney had some part in the wording. But as Scott said - consult with an Attorney.