A business can be sued for defamation in New Jersey.- A defamatory statement is one that is false and “injurious to the reputation of another” or exposes another person to “hatred, contempt or ridicule” or subjects another person to “a loss of the good will and confidence” in which he or she is held by others.
- A defamatory statement is one that is false and harms the reputation of another such that it lowers the defamed person in the estimation of the community or deters third parties from dealing with that person.
- The law of defamation is rooted in the notion that individuals should be free to enjoy their reputations unimpaired by false and defamatory attacks.
I read a recent case where a business and its owner were sued for allegedly claiming an autistic adult was stupid. To be actionable, defamation claims must satisfy three elements to survive being in a lawsuit. Those elements are: (1) the assertion of a false and defamatory statement concerning another; (2) the unprivileged publication of that statement to a third party; and (3) fault amounting at least to negligence by the publisher.
However, expressions of opinion are protected. As our Supreme Court has explained, there are two types of opinion, namely,
The first, or “pure” kind is found when the maker of the comment states the facts on which [they] base [their] opinion of the plaintiff and then states a view as to the plaintiff’s conduct, qualifications or character. “Pure” expression of opinion occurs also when the maker of the comment does not spell out the alleged facts on which the opinion is based but both parties to the communication know the facts or assume their existence and the statement of opinion is obviously based on those assumed facts as justification for the opinion. The second, or “mixed[,”] type of expression of opinion is one that, while an opinion in form or context, is apparently based on facts about the plaintiff or [their] conduct that have neither been stated by the defendant nor assumed to exist by the parties to the communication.
In this case, plaintiffs claimed defamation because if proved, defendant’s alleged statement was not a statement of opinion. It was neither an expression of his view of facts nor an opinion about facts not stated or assumed by the parties. Rather, the alleged statement was that defendant repeated what he believed to be facts: that an owner of a business called an autistic person stupid.
Plaintiffs asserted defendant made this false statement, which in turn harmed their reputations and caused a substantial loss of business. They alleged defendant published the statement to a third party who posted it on Facebook, and her post was then shared widely in the autistic community. The lawsuit identified defendant as the source of the defamatory statement and alleged the defamatory statement seriously damaged plaintiffs’ business reputations and deterred third parties from doing business with them.
The court allowed plaintiffs defamation case to continue in the ordinary course of the judicial system.
To discuss your NJ business matter, please contact Fredrick P. Niemann, Esq. at (732) 863-9900 or email him at fniemann@hnlawfirm.com. Please ask us about our video conferencing or telephone consultations if you are unable to come to our office.
By Fredrick P. Niemann, Esq. of Hanlon Niemann & Wright, a Freehold Township, Monmouth County, NJ Business Attorney