2 ms·

That’s getting a little bit nit-picky over the definition of “sue”. In this context the risk people are talking about is that a candidate will make some sort of

That’s getting a little bit nit-picky over the definition of “sue”. In this context the risk people are talking about is that a candidate will make some sort of legal claim against them. Whether that claim ends up in court really only changes the potential impact of that risk. Especially considering most HR related legal complaints end up with an out of court settlement (even a lot of the frivolous ones), because the cost of litigation (including potential reputations damages) usually outweighs the cost settlement. There’s no legal definition of “sue”. You can’t go to court and file “suing documents”. If you define “sue” as to make a legal claim against somebody, then it’s immaterial whether they do that via a letter from a lawyer, or by serving them documents to appear in court.

PeterisP 7y ago
There is a legal definition of "sue" and it does mean just that, to file a civil claim in court. You may receive a nasty letter from a lawyer threatening to sue you unless you fulfil their demands, but that's kind of the point, they're threatening to sue you but at this moment you haven't been sued yet and won't be until (and unless) they actually do file a claim; and it might as well be just empty threats asserting that they could do that with no actual intention to follow up (lawyers do that), so it's an important difference between threatening to sue (which can be done frivolously) and actually suing. https://lmgtfy.com/?q=legal+definition+of+sue&s=d https://lmgtfy.com/?q=legal+definition+of+sue&s=d https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/sue https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/sue - "To initiate a lawsuit or continue a legal proceeding" https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sue https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sue - "to seek justice or right from (a person) by legal process" (all the letters and negotiations up and until a suit has been filed is not the legal process); "to take legal proceedings in court".
pmiller2 7y ago
Using the commonly understood definition of a word is not nitpicking.
- AmericanChopper 7y ago
  So you think the phrase “I’m worried I’ll get sued” would commonly be understood to mean “I’m worried that formal legal proceedings will be initiated against me, but I’m not at all worried that legal proceedings might be threatened in an attempt to leverage me into a settlement”? If somebody hired lawyers to negotiate with another party to pay them damages, under threat of a lawsuit, I’d say that would commonly be described as “suing” or “getting sued”. If an employer says “I don’t provide feedback to candidates for risk of getting sued over it”, they are absolutely referring to the risk associated with providing that candidate said feedback. Which includes both lawsuits and out of court settlements. So regardless of what you think the common usage is, that’s certainly how it’s used in this situation. Otherwise you could just tell said employers “you never have to worry about getting sued, because you can just pay the settlement lol...”.
  - pmiller2 7y ago
    > So you think the phrase “I’m worried I’ll get sued” would commonly be understood to mean “I’m worried that formal legal proceedings will be initiated against me, but I’m not at all worried that legal proceedings might be threatened in an attempt to leverage me into a settlement”? Yes, that is what that means in the English language.

PeterisP 7y ago

There is a legal definition of "sue" and it does mean just that, to file a civil claim in court. You may receive a nasty letter from a lawyer threatening to sue you unless you fulfil their demands, but that's kind of the point, they're threatening to sue you but at this moment you haven't been sued yet and won't be until (and unless) they actually do file a claim; and it might as well be just empty threats asserting that they could do that with no actual intention to follow up (lawyers do that), so it's an important difference between threatening to sue (which can be done frivolously) and actually suing. https://lmgtfy.com/?q=legal+definition+of+sue&s=d https://lmgtfy.com/?q=legal+definition+of+sue&s=d https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/sue https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/sue - "To initiate a lawsuit or continue a legal proceeding" https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sue https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sue - "to seek justice or right from (a person) by legal process" (all the letters and negotiations up and until a suit has been filed is not the legal process); "to take legal proceedings in court".

pmiller2 7y ago

Using the commonly understood definition of a word is not nitpicking.

AmericanChopper 7y ago
So you think the phrase “I’m worried I’ll get sued” would commonly be understood to mean “I’m worried that formal legal proceedings will be initiated against me, but I’m not at all worried that legal proceedings might be threatened in an attempt to leverage me into a settlement”? If somebody hired lawyers to negotiate with another party to pay them damages, under threat of a lawsuit, I’d say that would commonly be described as “suing” or “getting sued”. If an employer says “I don’t provide feedback to candidates for risk of getting sued over it”, they are absolutely referring to the risk associated with providing that candidate said feedback. Which includes both lawsuits and out of court settlements. So regardless of what you think the common usage is, that’s certainly how it’s used in this situation. Otherwise you could just tell said employers “you never have to worry about getting sued, because you can just pay the settlement lol...”.
- pmiller2 7y ago
  > So you think the phrase “I’m worried I’ll get sued” would commonly be understood to mean “I’m worried that formal legal proceedings will be initiated against me, but I’m not at all worried that legal proceedings might be threatened in an attempt to leverage me into a settlement”? Yes, that is what that means in the English language.