Office Romance Turns Nasty

Well they say that office romances could cost you your job and if they “sour” your reputation as well. Take a Philadelphia news station where the two anchors have a relationship Lori Delgado, the morning newsreader and Vince DeMentri, the afternoon news anchor. http://www.nypost.com/seven/10092008/gossip/pagesix/new_philly_tv_news_scandal_132735.htm Well, these two apparently had a relationship that soured allegedly resulting in the keying of Lori Delgado's car as well as the taking of certain possessions form her desk (hairdryer). Vince DeMentri was fired for seemingly being the culprit in these acts of harassment. Now Mr. Dementri is suing the station for slander. How does this measure up to the law? In cases of slander, you are talking about personal communication involving a defamatory statement (or statements). As opposed to libel, which are defamatory statements that appear in some permanent form: newspaper, broadcast or emails etc. However, the recent technological advances (chat rooms and live broadcasts) have blurred the line between libel and slander due to the long-term consequences of said communication. The burden will no doubt be on Vince DeMentri to prove actual defamatory statement of fact (not opinion), which is false and has caused actual damages of reputation. Despite the 1964 Supreme court ruling on Sullivan giving the elevated “Actual Malice” standard, it sounds like this case may be a winner or Mr. Demtri.