Q: Can I be sued for telling others about things that actually happened?
This is more related to my wife. She was in Las Vegas celebrating a friends 30th birthday. A very close male friend of ours that is also married was there for business at the same time and they met up for drinks. He made sexual advances towards her that were rejected. He is now claiming that he will take legal action if he interprets anything she says or text to others regarding the issue as slander or libel. Can that happen?
A:
In Indiana truth is an absolute defense to libel or slander, which I will call defamation. Because of the absolute defense other torts that are recognized in other jurisdictions are not in Indiana. A defamation case requires 4-5 elements; 1. a false statement, 2. about the plaintiff, 3. published to a third party, 4. damage to the plaintiff's reputation, (5. strict liability, negligence, or what is called actual malice. That analysis depends on the status of the person being defamed, or the subject matter of the statement if it a public figure, or a matter of public concern).
Defamation is a complicated field of the law, and you should definitely speak to a local lawyer to whom you can tell all the facts.
Best of luck!
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