7 ms·
> If you get accused of doing something you didn't do, you can file a defamation lawsuit. Are you aware of anyone who has successfully done this and maintained
by haberman 1y ago
> If you get accused of doing something you didn't do, you can file a defamation lawsuit.
Are you aware of anyone who has successfully done this and maintained their standing in life?
The example that comes to mind for me is Steven Galloway, a UBC Professor who was accused of sexual assault in 2015 and filed a defamation lawsuit about it in 2018. That lawsuit has spent the last 7 years making its way through the courts; after many attempts to have it dismissed, it will finally proceed to trial. Meanwhile Galloway's career basically ended: he went from being a celebrated and award-winning author and professor to doing manual labor like cleaning swimming pools. His publisher cancelled a three-book contract in 2018.
Even if the defamation lawsuit succeeds, how will he ever be made whole? He will never get the last 10 years of his life back.
- acdha 1y agoHis case wasn’t just sexual assault, and he admitted having an affair with a student which even if it’s not a criminal offense is a career-limiting move at many universities. I think he deserves his day in court but it sounds like there’s more to it than a single accusation.
- haberman 1y agoAs I understand it, all of the allegations were investigated by Madame Justice Boyd who found that none of them were substantiated except for the affair, which I agree is far from advisable, but on its own seems unlikely to have ended his career so completely. There is no way to go back to 2015 and find out what would have happened if the affair had been the only accusation.
- lern_too_spel 1y agoGalloway, by his own admission, did far more than interact with a woman at work. That's not what we're discussing here. Getting in bed with somebody requires far more vetting than simply interacting with them, and this has always been the case.
- haberman 1y agoFair point. But I think it does illustrate that defamation lawsuits are unlikely to be an effective defense in the (admittedly unlikely) case that you are falsely accused of something.