Slander about another is used in sick organizations to try to negate the work of another, destroy their credibility, destroy their legacy, destroy their reputation, destroy their career, etc. The slander can be about almost any subject: He is crazy, lazy, unreliable, never on time, promiscuous, a poor worker, a wife beater, an animal abuser, a liar, a drunk, a drug user, etc., etc. The slander is usually done by a sick/bully boss who is jealous of the worker (worker shows up the boss by having better facilities, getting more recognition, being more observant, having more friends, etc.), a co-worker wanting the other worker's job, office, etc,, friends of the person starting the slander who are supporting their buddy in his attack, the leaders of a sick organization who are setting the worker up for a firing and trying to justify their firing actions by their slanders, other rivals at the organization, etc. The slanderer can be anyone at the organization; the reason for the slander can be anything, or nothing more than dislike. The original slander can also come from outside the organization (from an ex, enemy, neighbor, previous employer, etc.) and someone from the sick organization may pick up the slander to use as HIS OWN, probably thinking he can use the slander to destroy someone else for whatever reason he has for doing so.
Slander is usually committed by a dishonest person who may not be very smart; if he were honest and smart he would research to find the truth BEFORE he started/spread any slander (which could make him look like a fool if the slander is proven to be a LIE, or maybe lead to a lawsuit). There are those who will repeat the lie as often as they can to anyone who will listen, even to using their lies as a teaching "example" of a bad person to their students, interns, assistants, co-workers, etc. Others will repeat the lie as much as they can so eventually the lie is spread far and wide, and few know the origin of the lie, but hear the lie so often they begin to accept it as the truth. This also happens in political races.
There are some bosses/supervisors who will use their lies to try to ruin the careers of rivals, to get their facilities and workers taken away from the victim, to get their salaries reduced, to make life at the sick organization so difficult the person finds it hard to do the work necessary to silence the slanders of the bad boss, and any number of other things to try to destroy the rival, and get him kicked out of the "sandbox."
There are some slanderers whose brain gets "stuck" or "frozen" so much they are constantly thinking about getting their victim even up to 15 + years after the victim has retired and left the sick organization, and are constantly repeating the slanders to anyone who will listen.
What can the poor victim do? Usually very little. Those that know him know the truth. Others will believe about anything they want to believe; some just want to believe the worse about others because it makes good gossip. It is difficult to get a witness to testify in a slander case. Why? Those that slander usually have some sort of power over others and any potential witness is afraid to testify against such a person. If a lowly worker slanders another he can be easily fired and gotten rid of; if someone with power slanders another he is rarely challenged by those lower in power than him, and those above him support him, even in his lies, because he is a member of their power group. And this truly makes for a VERY SICK ORGANIZATION extending through a long period of time, in some cases for over 40 years.
And if the leaders of the sick organization believe the lies, they might persecute the victim by firing, ruining his career, giving him a pay cut, taking his facilities away, taking his workers away, etc., etc. So slander should be fought just as hard as if someone were trying to kill you, because they are trying to kill your career and future.
If the victim ever finds out, even years later, that one of his friends heard a slander from the slanderer or one of his cohorts, then the victim should jump on it to find out all the particulars and then counter the slander and slanderer by submitting EVIDENCE that the slander is a lie to the next highest authority (after the slanderer) in the organization, and say something like this, "I am giving you FIRST shot at correcting the slanders being put forth by so-and-so, on this date, at a gathering of various people, several who heard the slanders. The evidence countering the slanders and proving them to be lies is enclosed." If the next highest boss is also one of those persecuting you, then deal with the highest authority of the organization you can without upsetting their chain-of-command rules. Then include a detailed list of the possible options that may be available (that you are thinking about) against the offending organization and its slandering member(s); but make no threats.
If you make a public deal out of this situation a lot of people will just call you a disgruntled employee. You want to get the organization to handle it, so they do not come back on you; you are exercising your power over them by getting them to correct a situation they do not want to handle (how can they chastise their buddy?). They will want to keep things quiet, too; they do not want to be forced to admit that such actions against another happened at their organization, or on their watch, and thus have it become public knowledge.
You will never get total satisfaction out of the outcome; you will not get repair of your reputation for the years of slander, or money lost in your career due to their persecution. Even after providing proof that the slander is a lie there will be some who will still believe anything they want. The main office may do nothing more than to tell the offender to quit his slanders, and not punish him in any way (because he is so-o-o-o important to their program). They may not care that the slanderer treats many people badly and is a constant negative example for the organization. But you will get satisfaction of at least knowing you have proven to some that the slanders were lies.
If you are slandered, get your proof of the lie as fast as you can to the next highest authority in the organization above the slanderer, and calmly ask him to handle it. Slander can ruin careers, families, and the future, and is NOT to be taken lightly, but fought and proven to be lies (if for nothing else, just one's own peace of mind).
Every one of us will be slandered during his life by someone who does not like him for various reasons, or for no reason other than his presence/existence.
Adrian R. Lawler, Ph.D. , (C) 2012 --
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