Employee Entitled to Jury Trial on Slander Claim Against Employer For Statements Made By A Co-Worker
A California federal district court in Duste v. Chevron Products Company held that a plaintiff was entitled to a jury trial on his slander claim against his former employer for alleged false and defamatory comments made about him by a co-worker.
In Duste, the plaintiff was an at-will sales manager at Chevron responsible for, among other things, entertaining executives within the oil industry and reviewing and approving the expense reports for such entertainment. Chevron terminated the plaintiff’s employment after an internal investigation revealed that he had approved numerous fraudulent or inappropriate expense reports.
While the termination itself was not alleged to have been improper, the plaintiff claimed to have learned during the internal investigation that a co-worker had falsely informed Chevron investigators that the plaintiff had frequented brothels and strip clubs while entertaining clients. That same employee also allegedly told a Chevron client that the plaintiff was terminated because of these visits to brothels and strip clubs, which was also untrue.
Based on these statements by the co-worker, the plaintiff filed suit against Chevron, attempting to hold the company liable for the detrimental impact of the co-worker’s alleged statements on his professional reputation. Although the court dismissed several causes of action brought by the plaintiff, it nonetheless held that he was entitled to a jury trial on his claim for slander.
The Duste court found that the slander claim was appropriate for a jury trial because questions of fact existed as to whether the employer could be liable for the co-worker's statements and whether the plaintiff was injured in his profession and trade.