Can someone win a defamation suit based off some voice recordings?
<p>This guy I was seeing, we'll call him A, is now accusing me of defamation of character. He and I ended our sexual relationship approximately 3 months ago. He was someone who had a girlfriend, and slept with multiple women on the side without his girlfriend knowing (I was one of these women). He and I were very close friends and I knew of his pattern with women. </p>

<p>Before I started my relationship with him, I was involved with another man (call him B) and after being raped by B, I engaged in activity I probably shouldn't have but did (i.e.: getting him fired from his job). Prior to A and I consummating our sexual relationship, he found out about the things I did to B. He still had no problem getting involved with me. After we were sexually involved, I spoke with A and confessed to all of the bad things I did to B, because I thought A was my friend and he would understand why I did all of these things. I told him about everything I did but we didn't talk about the rape, it was mostly just detailing the things that I did. I told him that doing those things to B made me feel better and I'm glad I did it because B deserved it (at the very least) in my opinion. </p>

<p>Later on, A admitted that because he was scared that I might do the same thing to him as I did to B (i.e.: get him fired from his job), he decided to voice record all the conversations we had, without my knowledge. We stopped seeing each other after a few weeks of that and it was mutual.</p>

<p>Recently I found out that someone sent his job a letter describing sexual assaults perpetrated by A. As a result he was fired from his $150k job. He told a friend who told me that he is suing me because he thinks I did this and he has evidence because of the voice recordings. I have no idea what kind of damages he is going for and I am very poor. I can't afford a lawyer and what's worse is that I haven't committed any of the acts he's accused me of, I haven't spoken to him in months. </p>

<p>I should mention that we are in NY so the law of one-party consent applies to him recording me. 
Does it seem like he has a substantial case against me? Is it possible that these voice recordings will substantiate his claims that I somehow got him fired?</p>

<p>To prove defamation A must prove that:</p>

<ul>
<li>You said something damaging about A:

<ul>
<li>to someone else </li>
<li>that isn’t true</li>
<li>and they suffered damage as a result.</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>

<p>The fact that you said something damaging about someone else to A (true or not) is irrelevant.</p>

<p><em>If</em> they sue you they will have to state the facts they are relying on in their statement of claim. Among these would have to be what you said, to whom and when - if these things are vague or missing they really don’t have a case.</p>

<p>It's a civil suit. There is a lower degree of evidence needed, but there is still evidence needed. If you were guilty, then it would be very, very simple to prove your guilt: Ask the company that fired him whether they fired him because you told them. If you went to court and asked for that, the court would surely ask the company for this evidence. And they have to either provide that evidence or say clearly that it wasn't you. Since you are not guilty (obviously assuming that is the case), you didn't tell the company, so they are not going to tell the court that you did, so this man will lose his case. </p>

<p>This voice recording, even if proven genuine, makes you look suspicious, but it is absolutely no evidence. There is no reason why his ex-girlfriend, or one of the multiple women he slept with, couldn't be the person who accused him. In addition, in your recording you admitted that you got a person fired <em>by telling the truth</em> about him. Assuming that this man didn't assault you, you would have done something different: Getting him fired <em>by lying</em> about him. There is no reason that you would get someone fired <em>by lying</em> about them after getting someone else fired <em>by telling the truth</em> about him. So there is no evidence really against you. </p>

<p>After reading comments: If the employer says that it wasn't you who got him fired (and in court, they have to say the truth, and they have no reason to lie to protect you), that would be a huge, huge blow to his case. He would have to convince the court not only that you got him fired, but that the company lied about it. </p>

<p>The rest of his evidence: He has no evidence that you ever told lies about a boyfriend to get him fired. He has evidence that you told the truth to get someone fired, which is entirely different. Plus there are lots of other women who had reason to dislike him. He's supposed to show that it's more than 50% likely that you did it. From the facts, I'd say 10% before the company's statement, and very little after their statement supporting you. </p>

<p>The recordings of you talking about non-party <em>B</em> constitute <em>prior act evidence</em>. As such, they are inadmissible for proving that <em>you</em> are the one who <em>authored</em> the accusations that got plaintiff <em>A</em> fired.</p>

<p>However, those same recordings are admissible to prove aspects such as <em>method, system, or intent of doing an act</em> (in this case, the defamatory publications). This is relevant when it comes to awarding <em>substantial</em> damages -irrespective of <em>special</em> or <em>actual</em> damages- <em>if the judge/jury determines</em> somehow that you authored the defamatory communication(s). That is because false accusations of sexual assaults are usually <em>defamatory per se</em>.</p>

<p>(Substantial damages are awarded where a defamer is found to have made the falsehoods with the mental state known in defamation litigation as <em>actual malice</em>.)</p>

<p>If you calumniated <em>A</em> by telling a third party, and that third party is the one who sent the defamatory email(s) to the company, you might be held liable for at least some portion of the damages awarded to <em>A</em>. Thus, the dispositive issue in <em>A</em>'s lawsuit is whether or not the defamatory falsehoods are traceable to you at all.</p>

defamation