Yep.
I have, unfortunately, seen a number of cases during my career that involved false allegations of sexual harassment made against an employee, usually a member of management. And usually male.
We didn’t always find out that the allegations were false until later in the case, when we obtained (for example) voice mail messages of the accuser telling the accused that she couldn’t wait to meet up with him again at their usual motel, or X-rated sexts from the accuser to the accused, or even flat-out admissions by the accuser -- on the record and under oath -- that the relationship was consensual.
In my experience, the accused has never sued the accuser for defamation.
But an accused man in Ohio did sue, and he’s going to get a jury trial against his accuser. The court’s decision has some good information about accused harassers, and defamation claims against (a) the employer and (b) the accuser.
The plaintiff (we’ll call him Derek) was his company’s Chief Legal Officer. He got fired for alleged sexual harassment, among other reasons, and sued the employer and the individual who accused him (we’ll call her Shaunna).
The court dismissed all of Derek’s claims against the employer, but his claim against Shaunna will go to trial.
In the words of ChatGPT, “let’s dive in.”
Employer wins
According to the court’s decision, there was evidence of more than a professional relationship between Derek and Shaunna. If you know what I mean, and I think you do.
(That has been true of just...
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