Slander is spoken, but in the information age libel will leave you liable. The internet never forgets. Don't let a grudge cost you where it counts, your wallet!

The cannabis industry has more than its fair share of failed ventures, and typically in their wake is a soured relationship between former partners--partners that often times were best friends or family.  Inevitably, these entrepreneurial minded partners diverge off on their own endeavors and in competition with one another, and as you can imagine drama often ensues.

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.  -Eleanor Roosevelt 

Don't get caught up on what your ex-business partner is doing. Focus on the idea of building your business. The more you focus on getting back at a failed business partner, the more you distract yourself from the ideas that are going to make you succeed, and the more you're going to open yourself up to civil lawsuit liabilities. Since I’m a CPA, I’ll use my own industry as an example. In a recent Florida court case, a CPA was awarded $9.4 million after being disparaged by a former partner. 

IN ONE OF THE LARGEST DEFAMATION VERDICTS IN MIAMI DADE COUNTY HISTORY, LEAD COUNSEL SCOTT MAGER REPRESENTED A WELL-KNOWN CPA

The suit arose out of a CPA who was allegedly defamed by a former partner.  The disgruntled former partner of Plaintiff, after purportedly being terminated, wrote a letter to many of the Plaintiff’s clients, alleging (among other things) that he was under the influence of illegal drugs.  Plaintiff claimed that he lost substantial business as a result.  Defendant claimed that he had evidence supporting his allegations, and that in any event, the Plaintiff could not prove any specific damages were linked to the letter. Mager was able to show the utter absence of any evidence, showing that the wrongful conduct should never have occurred.

As many know, the challenge in defamation cases is illustrating the amount of damages suffered by the plaintiff, both from an economic loss and personal injury standpoint.  Mager handled the case with class and elegance, and neatly depicted the damages through devastatingly emotional testimony from the victim/plaintiff, coupled with wonderful visual aids and detailed evidentiary showings of specific loss business as a direct result of the defamation, also utilizing.

The jury truly felt the harm suffered by the victim, and through the presentation of the evidence and what a live witness referred to as a “brilliant and emotionally moving” closing argument, Mager was able to secure a $9,400,000 verdict, including $1,000,000 in punitive damages.

If the defendant had said what he wrote over cocktails, the lawsuit would likely have been impractical and unwinnable, however the defendant was so bold and small minded as to send letters to the plaintiff's clients, leaving a literal paper trial.  Emails are even worse! They can be forwarded, saved, archived and will definitely be your worst enemy if you're a defendant in a libel case.  

For example, the hypothetical email below illustrates what would be considered slam dunk evidence in a libel case as it is disparaging in its vary nature.  The sender made an unfounded accusation of a crime with the intent to hurt our reputation in the eyes of the recipient. Private persons are also afforded more protection in defamation lawsuits as well, and the nature of being a CPA doesn't qualify as a public person.  So even if the sender would have used "allegedly" or "reason to believe" instead of "concrete" it still could potentially qualify as disparaging. 

Date: Thursday, June 7, 2017 at 10:29 AM

Subject: Recent Articles / Bro Tax, LLC & Top Cannabis CPA blog

Hi Bob:

I hope you are doing swell!

Recently I have seen two blog posts written by Ben Condon, CPA and Joe Bailey, CPA on your website.   Ben and Joe are former partners of Bro Tax, LLC and we have concrete evidence that they stole intellectual property from our Firm.  I wanted to inform you directly to allow you to contemplate future considerations on publishing their articles.

Thanks and let me know if you have any questions or want to set up a time to talk.

Thanks,

Partner Wanting To Get Sued

Truth is your best ally. If what you say or write is factually correct, it is by definition not disparaging.  If your former business partner has a publicly available criminal record, you are under no obligation to obscure or hide it, and in fact you can scream it from the highest of mountain tops and tweet it, Pin it, Snap it, and Instagram it to your hearts desire. Because that person has been convicted of a specific crime, there is nothing disparaging or slanderous in telling someone else, because it is a FACT.  In the above example, however, an unfounded slanderous claim is being levied against myself and Ben and if you read closely you’ll notice that it is being written to a member of the press with the express purpose of damaging business relationships.

I found this article very informative regarding the legalese of defamation, slander, and libel. 

As I mentioned above, worrying about someone else doesn't help you grow your business. Focus on your business and save yourself the drama. If your ex-partner is unscrupulous, chances are most people already have the same poor perception of that person, and therefore it goes without saying or more importantly, writing. Focus on building your eminence, brand, work product, and don’t let years of hard work fail just because you can’t keep your emotions in check.

(all sites used as reference have been linked or referenced where appropriate. If you feel we have missed a citation, please reach out and we will get it fixed!)