When someone’s false statement destroys your reputation, it can cause financial harm as well as emotional distress and frustration. As Thomas Paine once said, “Character is much easier kept than recovered.” While someone hurling insults at you in private may be something you can shrug off, when the accusation or untrue statements are published, it can cause irreparable harm, particularly when it impacts your livelihood.
What Is Defamation Under Colorado Law?
Under Colorado’s revised statutes, the court describes two types of defamation in the following way:
“A false or derogatory statement of fact about another person that is communicated to a third party. A defamatory statement is considered libel if it is in written form and slander if it is made in spoken form.”
Many people confuse libel and slander, but both are considered defamation under Colorado Law. The law goes on to describe defamation as either intentional actions or negligence that causes harm to a person’s reputation by publishing false, derogatory information in print or verbally.
What Elements Must a Case Meet to Qualify for a Defamation Lawsuit?
It’s never pleasant when someone publishes false information about you, but when it’s meant to damage your reputation and cause harm, you have a right to seek compensation for any economic damages caused by the defamation. To recover your damages through a defamation lawsuit requires proving the following:
- That the statement made is false
- The statement was made to a third party (a publisher or broadcaster)
- The entity responsible for publishing the defamatory material acted either negligently (Such as failing to fact-check the information) or with intent to cause harm
An example of defamation occurs when an online news organization prints a falsehood told to them such as “Doctor John Smith failed med school but his father paid off the dean to pass him.” Suppose this statement is categorically false but the online newspaper didn’t fact-check it or intentionally published it with malice while knowing it was false, the publication is liable for damages to the subject of the defamation.
Defining Defamation Per Se and Defamation Per Quod
Colorado also follows the legal standards of defamation per se and defamation per quod.
Defamation Per Se
Some forms of defamation are automatically recognized by the court as causing harm to the subject by their egregious nature alone. Common examples include publishing false information that someone else committed a serious crime like murder or rape, or publically stating that a person is unqualified for their chosen profession, such as claiming that an attorney never passed a bar exam. In defamation per se, the courts consider it certain that the defamatory statements caused harm. The subject of the false claim does not have to prove they’ve suffered economic damages—the damages are presumed.
Defamation Per Quod
When the defamatory statements do not meet the category of defamation per se, the courts consider it defamation per quod. In this case, the damages are not presumed. Instead, the plaintiff must prove that they suffered damages, whether economic, emotional, or otherwise “special damages.”
Further, in either type of defamation, if the subject of the defamation is a public figure, they have an additional burden of proof and must show that the defamatory statements were made in malice.
Under Colorado law, a defamed person may recover financial compensation for the damages caused by the defamation, including special damages, general damages, and punitive damages. Contact our personal injury lawyers at Ciancio Cianco Brown for legal assistance today.