Am I being slandered?
October 10, 2010 5:53 PM Subscribe
I own a company in Wisconsin that manufactures items in China. Another company here in Wisconsin has been telling my Chinese vendors not to work with me, via emails and instant messenger chats.
The other company originally found out that I was doing projects with these vendors by telling them that I worked for them and that they needed status updates on the projects I was working on. Sneaky.
The other company was using these vendors before me, but has no contracts with them.
Is there a legal term for this? Can I take some sort of legal action against them?
I have an excellent lawyer, but he's on extended vacation and I can barely sleep at night knowing that I'm having communication issues with my vendors due to statements made to them by my competitor.
The other company originally found out that I was doing projects with these vendors by telling them that I worked for them and that they needed status updates on the projects I was working on. Sneaky.
The other company was using these vendors before me, but has no contracts with them.
Is there a legal term for this? Can I take some sort of legal action against them?
I have an excellent lawyer, but he's on extended vacation and I can barely sleep at night knowing that I'm having communication issues with my vendors due to statements made to them by my competitor.
The term you're looking for is tortious interference. Lawyer up and kick ass.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 6:06 PM on October 10, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 6:06 PM on October 10, 2010 [4 favorites]
Can you reach your lawyer while he's on vacation? Or his assistant? Your lawyer should be able to help you find someone to step in while he's gone.
posted by mullacc at 6:39 PM on October 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by mullacc at 6:39 PM on October 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
Does the Chinese company understand the situation, that the competitor is not your boss and they're trying to dishonestly interfere?
posted by fatbird at 8:52 PM on October 10, 2010
posted by fatbird at 8:52 PM on October 10, 2010
Get your lawyer involved NOW. If he/she is on vacation this IS an "interrupt the vacation" situation which ANY excellent lawyer (and their family) will understand.
My litigation group handles these matters regularly. Depending on volume of business/ cash flow / profit a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction may be in order.
Expensive but likely worth it.
CALL YOUR LAWYER NOW. The damage to your company's reputation can be irreversible in a very short time. Time is of the essence.
CALL YOUR LAWYER NOW.
You have options. You have rights. Your lawyer can help you decide what those are, what the cost of asserting them is and the right choice for your business.
Good luck.
posted by BrooksCooper at 10:36 PM on October 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
My litigation group handles these matters regularly. Depending on volume of business/ cash flow / profit a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction may be in order.
Expensive but likely worth it.
CALL YOUR LAWYER NOW. The damage to your company's reputation can be irreversible in a very short time. Time is of the essence.
CALL YOUR LAWYER NOW.
You have options. You have rights. Your lawyer can help you decide what those are, what the cost of asserting them is and the right choice for your business.
Good luck.
posted by BrooksCooper at 10:36 PM on October 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
And if your lawyer can't be bothered to interrupt his/her vacation, get another one. I'm not licensed in your jurisdiction, but if you MeMail me I can send you recommendations.
posted by hawkeye at 3:11 AM on October 11, 2010
posted by hawkeye at 3:11 AM on October 11, 2010
Response by poster: The Chinese companies all know what's going on and overnight I had conversations with all of them. They have all pledged to ignore my competitor's wishes that they not work with me.
I'm still pissed, though. It's hard enough to do business these days without a competitor acting like they own their vendors. By the way, these are factories who are readily available to anyone with a web browser and Google.
I'd still like to know specifically what variant of tortious interference we're talking about.
And my lawyer is actually on a cross-country road trip... I *really* don't want to bother him. If there is one thing he has taught me about law, it's to keep your cards in your hand. My competitor is laying out his whole hand for me to see and has no idea I can see it. Revenge is a dish best served cold.
In the meantime I'm remaining calm and collecting IM transcripts and emails and putting together facts for him to review when he returns.
Thank you all for your help so far!!!
posted by PSB at 4:32 AM on October 11, 2010
I'm still pissed, though. It's hard enough to do business these days without a competitor acting like they own their vendors. By the way, these are factories who are readily available to anyone with a web browser and Google.
I'd still like to know specifically what variant of tortious interference we're talking about.
And my lawyer is actually on a cross-country road trip... I *really* don't want to bother him. If there is one thing he has taught me about law, it's to keep your cards in your hand. My competitor is laying out his whole hand for me to see and has no idea I can see it. Revenge is a dish best served cold.
In the meantime I'm remaining calm and collecting IM transcripts and emails and putting together facts for him to review when he returns.
Thank you all for your help so far!!!
posted by PSB at 4:32 AM on October 11, 2010
Best answer: We're talking about "tortious interference with contract" or "tortious interference with business relations." There's a decent discussion here.
Basically, your competitor is making false statements in an attempt to interfere with your business relationship with a supplier.
Thing is, unless your supplier(s) actually start doing what your competitor wants, damages are going to be difficult to establish. Damages for tortious interference are usually based on the actual loss suffered, and right now it looks like your competitor is unsuccessfully trying to interfere, so your damages could be pretty nominal.
Either way, you're probably going to want to ask for an injunction, i.e. a court order that your competitor cut that shit out.
As long as it doesn't seem that there's any immediate risk to your business, I'd just keep collecting your evidence and get in touch with your lawyer when he gets back.
posted by valkyryn at 5:52 AM on October 11, 2010
Basically, your competitor is making false statements in an attempt to interfere with your business relationship with a supplier.
Thing is, unless your supplier(s) actually start doing what your competitor wants, damages are going to be difficult to establish. Damages for tortious interference are usually based on the actual loss suffered, and right now it looks like your competitor is unsuccessfully trying to interfere, so your damages could be pretty nominal.
Either way, you're probably going to want to ask for an injunction, i.e. a court order that your competitor cut that shit out.
As long as it doesn't seem that there's any immediate risk to your business, I'd just keep collecting your evidence and get in touch with your lawyer when he gets back.
posted by valkyryn at 5:52 AM on October 11, 2010
My competitor is laying out his whole hand for me to see and has no idea I can see it.
i really doubt this--there's no way of knowing if the chinese companies have already mentioned your conversation to him, for example ... also, if he's been doing this, most likely he has been doing other things that you have not learned about yet.
call your lawyer. they work for you. let them tell you it's not a big deal. they can't help you if you don't let them know there is a problem.
posted by lester's sock puppet at 6:06 AM on October 11, 2010
i really doubt this--there's no way of knowing if the chinese companies have already mentioned your conversation to him, for example ... also, if he's been doing this, most likely he has been doing other things that you have not learned about yet.
call your lawyer. they work for you. let them tell you it's not a big deal. they can't help you if you don't let them know there is a problem.
posted by lester's sock puppet at 6:06 AM on October 11, 2010
If he's an excellent lawyer, he will help his clients when they need it -- even if that means recommending another lawyer to cover, if his vacation is that important. Honestly, he should easily have names of other lawyers to refer potential clients to if he's not able to work with them for one reason or another (conflict of interest, extended absence, busy with current clients, etc.).
posted by Madamina at 7:32 AM on October 11, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Madamina at 7:32 AM on October 11, 2010 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by QuarterlyProphet at 5:59 PM on October 10, 2010