Any Lawyers here? Need a legal Perspective on the world’s most ridiculous scenario

[Thisisastupidscenario]

So in this hypothetical situation… which I’m aware is ridiculous.

If an individual with an axe to grind was to approach the HR department of a company or the company in general (a large international company that has large customers) and make some allegations against an employee (namely that they’ve lied about their qualifications, despite fairly rigorous onboarding). Would or could that company sue that individual with an axe to grind for several million (maybe billion, and this is just an average joe here) for fraud and reputation damage?

to me it sounds like utter dog poo. But I’m not a sharp legal kind.

He is certainly a multi tasker.

That’s a very nice way of putting it

What was invented - the relative? or the whole scenario

Surely if the information is truthful, then you cannot be sued?
as @ChocChipHandbag says

So I can say "Fred, you're a thief" to Fred in private and no claim is possible.

But if I say "Fred is a thief" in front of John then Fred has a theoretical claim against me as it lowers his reputation in the eyes of John (provided, of course, that Fred is not actually a thief).

If Fred is a thief and its provable, then no lie or falsehood has occured?

I think the question is, why do you still have any contact with Walter if he's issued threats against you? You can't save the rest of the world from him, even if it were your job, which it isn't.

I’ve posted this up thread but see below for a more detailed overview of scenario.

but basically, no one has approached his company, he’s claiming an anonymous person has and the company has taken it very seriously and will ‘take down’ anyone who’s said this and he wanted to check if it was me as I previously case aspersions on his role because he was worried for my children’s welfare. This is obviously shite as a multi National company wouldn’t take on an individual, especially because according to him it’s true and he has this snr position and all of these qualifications. So this anonymous person is lying (according to him)

backstory below

walter is a huge huge liar and it’s not the innocuous lies that don’t really hurt anyone else but yourself. The lies are used to con people or deride others or to carry out affairs (on his ex partner). The level of lie isn’t just oh I got a promotion at work or inflating a salary a bit for the brag factor, they are outlandish to the very limits of possibility. But sadly someone always seem to believe him and it ends up costing them, big time. But he is very manipulative. Others have recognised him from some other posts (I can’t really talk to anyone about this in real life because it’s so embarrassing to be related to someone like this) and it’s always something just outside of my frame of reference. These scenarios are not just for cheating people they are always an excuse to be a dick too, so not returning his elderly GM or M calls for months and then panicking and then it would turn out he’s on a secret spy mission and wasn’t permitted contact to the outside world (this legit happened) and one must go along with this bullshit

i have known Walt, his entire life, so I know his qualifications and he mine. Such as close family do. And now some, really hard ones to get have magicked up. now off the back of several fictional intelligence jobs, Walter has a snr leadership role (the type that normally doesn’t necessarily need a degree but 20+ years of experience and work place qualifications) just off the back of his fictional PhD. Now that would be one thing but it’s the same conning story starting all over again but it’s also the derision of my qualifications and my job because I’m inferior to Walter in his fantasy. Coincidentally I actually know (through a Friend of a friend) someone who works where he is claiming to be a high flier and I mentioned this to his mother and gm and then literally 3 days later this lawsuit has happened of someone ‘anonymously’ calling his company and saying he’s lied. I’ve never done that as frankly I doubt he’s lying to them, he probably does work there but in an entry level role, the lies are to people outside work and he’s worried about getting outed. Hence the ridiculous scenario

this legal threat is new, and previously after all the lies before I didn’t.

ive explained upthread. Elderly relative in close proximity is being targeted, worried and as he is geographically close (and not thinking he’d sink that low because it’s outright breaking and entering) to check on the elderly relative enter ludicrous private jet story and flying to or back from all expense paid trip to vegas, so can’t and it’s really got me questioning now if it’s actually him targeting the relative and creating an alibi

OMG it's this guy again! He really has no shame does he OP? And sadly it sounds like it could be him doing the break-ins, especially if he's done stuff like that before.

You can have contact with and support your elderly relative without having contact with Walter, though. He'll always fuck with your head; you'll think more clearly if you're not opening yourself up to him.

This was after one incident of cameras being smashed and police not able to go around, Walter was the closest relative, I live 6 hrs away. Desperate times, as really needed cameras back up that day as it seemed crimes maybe escalating.

larger picture is any contact with him leads to an elaborate and exhausting story so you are correct here, problem is, he spreads his lies very well and for whatever reason he’s believable, and no one seems to stop and question what he’s saying… just that now I’m going to be dragged to court for repetitional damage and my children will lose their house. This has resulted in a few panicked phone calls from other relatives and quite a nasty one from his partner

It does seem likely doesn’t it. I would tell the police but the relative in insistent that it’s lies and they’ll tell the police I’m lying- so I don’t really need wasting police time being held over my head.

im at a point where I do think… you made your bed relative, you’re going to have to lie in it… but that does seem cruel because Walter has manipulated and abused them for years

Well, most people care about being constantly lied to, and then threatened.

Call them strange

He sounds dangerous. Having built that much fantasy into his life how far would he go to protect the fantasy?

Exactly and his poor ex partner who he’s blackmailing to give him money

I'm not a lawyer, but my job includes looking after the corporate reputation for a big FTSE company, and have spent 20-odd years doing similar roles for FTSE companies, most of them household names.

Over the years, we've had various people claiming mad conspiracies, setting up websites claiming we do awful things etc, scammers using the company name for 'lotteries' and fake employment etc.

We have never sued or even attempted to sue any of these people, and they are deliberately trying to damage the company reputation.

I can't see any mechanism by which the company could sue, let alone the PR nightmare that would be any sort of 'David v Goliath' lawsuit.

So from the perspective of my role in a company, it would never happen.

To give you some examples of the sort of things we deal with in a typical year... we've had investors who have lost money buying our shares set up blogs claiming all sorts of weird financial mismanagement, and we usually ignore them on the basis they will have very few visitors. We don't even bother engaging with the individual

In one company I worked for, we had someone set up a website called 'CompanyXkillspeople.com' which was making all sorts of lurid claims, and we sent the host a legal letter to get it taken down, but I don't think we even properly investigated who was making the claims.

We fairly often get disgruntled people threatening to 'go to the press' unless we resolve their issue, give them compensation for a past issue, and occasionally, it will be something like sack their cheating ex husband.
99% of them don't know how to contact 'the press', and the very few that do usually result in a journo we know quite well telling us over lunch that they've had a weird email from a very angry person.

This would be pretty standard across any sort of large company, especially if they are 'customer facing' in any way - a retailer, utility company, etc

Happy to DM you more context or insight into how a company would typically handle a reputational issue, if it would be helpful

I would just not see Walter any more. Or at least very little.

Walter cant put you down if you dont see him.

Also give no shits what Walter says to anyone else about you.

If say a friend tells you that Walter says your never going to go beyond mid tier, then you laugh and say so what? Hows is it Walter's business what I do with my life?

If other people you care about are enmeshed with Walter, you just (if you want to) tell them you will always be there for them and that's it.
No more Walter and you will one day find out if Walter's lies bite him back.

That’s fab! You summed it up so well, the David and Goliath nature of this fictional lawsuit would actually cause reputational damage

For me, the question here is whether he believes his own lies or not.

If yes, he's clearly unwell. These are delusions, signs of psychosis (losing touch with reality).

If no, he's just a complete bastard. I see what you're saying that he really shouldn't be allowed to get away with what he's done and is doing to other people, but also see what PPs have said that you can't save everyone from him on your own, and it's not your responsibility to do so.

What you have said about him reminds me of someone I know who's quite similar wrt telling appalling lies that have very real and damaging consequences for those around them. Whilst I have some shred of sympathy for this person (because I believe them to be unwell, and also know that they will never experience true happiness), ultimately I look at them like a burning building: you can either get out, or stay and get burned. You can't reason with it, make it see sense, or stop it being destructive.

It's a tough situation, no wonder you're pulling your hair out.

Not to mention that if a company was this trigger happy to sue anyone and everyone who approached them, they wouldn't have time to get any actual work done.

Plus the amount you mention is more than you would see in a US class action lawsuit. It would never ever happen in the UK.

The only thing I can think of that comes even slightly close to what he is claiming is that I've seen people sign settlement agreements to leave the company, where they are gagged from talking about why they've left (usually the company wanting to cover up some form of discrimination) and including a clause that if the ex employee bad mouths the company, they company can seek damages to cover repairing the damage to their reputation (ie hiring a PR firm to defend the company)
But I have never, ever heard of this actually being enforced. It is just a line to make people think twice about going to the press with their story of discrimination

All doctorates are publically available, if gained in the UK, it's a condition of the award. So they can never be hidden (they can be embargoed for a year sometimes, not beyond that).

I don’t think he does… he just sells them to people to get what he wants.

my heart breaks for these relatives, he took 50k from one under false pretences, I guess luckily from him they died later (natural causes). He’s abused, physically and emotionally, controlled, manipulated them to such an extent they are all terrified of him and go along with whatever he says. But it’s getting them to see it, it’s almost like the people that fall for romance scams they are so committed to the idea that they love this person that they are willing to go to war for it but deep down they are incredibly vulnerable and are being exploited but would deny it under torture

Ah, this is awful.

It would be extremely unlucky if your elderly relative had one shady close relative who’s crooked, and then was also randomly targeted by other criminals on a regular-ish basis who know where to look for things of value etc.

If I were you I think I’d have a word with police anyway, explain the situation- that you suspect it is a relative but there is no proof, that this will be strenuously denied by all parties as there’s a history of ongoing low-level abuse, but that please could they do a welfare check type call out via community policing to talk to elderly relative generally about security etc. Might be just enough to put the wind up Walter without ruffling feathers too obviously?

There is absolutely no way his employers would take you to court.

Maybe even say, 'I look forward to the court summons from the Royal Navy. And if I am proven wrong I will gladly apologise publicly and pay costs'

They’ve already done this but without referring to Walter and wondering if this is another thing that’s ruffled him I’m pushing for an funding cameras to be put up but it can’t be done til next month and Walter has a date with the relative to help them have a clear out before then, who knows what will go missing then. They just need to see through the FOG and lies but it’s not working and then his poor ex, I desperately want to warn her but I’ve been commanded not to by family

That’s made me giggle a bit thank you, much needed!

he’s moved on from the navy now though… he was at m16 for a while and now it’s big industry

The thing is OP, just because of the other threads you have written, you need to get to a point of knowing you have done your best to protect people but you can't control them.

You can't control your dickhead relative. He will keep being a bastard.
You can't control your relatives who allow themselves to believe him, even when there is absolutely NO evidence to support his claims.

All you can do is not support his narrative and call out to your relatives that they are being conned, keep telling them, the drip, drip effect might eventually work. That's all you can do, unless you have proof he has stolen something / blackmailed someone and then call the police.