Being sued for defamation

Chloedancer

Person A gets carers allowance for an elderly dying couple who they are related to and live with. The person neglects and abuses the couple. After their deaths the sister of the wife becomes aware of a number of incidents of neglect and abuse including one possible incident of assault. Person A is also employed as a carer by the HSE. The sister of one of the couple then writes to the HSE outlining a number of incidents which were witnessed by people who have agreed to act as witness if needed and a number of other incidents the sister saw herself. The sister (also elderly and physically disabled) is concerned that this person is caring for other elderly vulnerable people. She calls to Person A to give them a copy of the letter so that person A cannot say she was doing it behind her back. Person A threatens to break the sisters legs and kick the sh*t out of her (witnessed by others). This morning the sister receives a letter from Person A's solicitor saying that the sister has defamed Person A and seeking "substantial damages" for damage to their reputation in the eyes of their employer and demanding a retraction and admission of liability. Person A is also seeking costs.

If you report your concerns to the HSE about someone caring for elderly vulnerable people can you be sued for defamation?
If the sister cannot afford to hire a solicitor and would not qualify for free legal aid how should she proceed?

johnnyskeleton

There are the free legal advice centres, she coild contact them for a bit of a steer.

FreudianSlippers

+1 to the above advice, they also may be able to help find a solicitor that will assist for a reasonable cost. I obviously cannot give legal advice nor do I have enough of the picture to do so in any event, but I'd guess that the solicitor sending the letter on behalf of Person A knows next to nothing about the law of Defamation and/or is chancing their arm to get you to agree to paying damages without taking legal advice.

I highly suggest you have a look at Part 3 of the Defamation Act 2009 and then speak to someone at FLAC

Wheelnut

The defamation claim will probably go nowhere, however it was handled badly by the sister and she would have been better off reporting it to the Gardai. She can still do that.

Tom Young

Legal aid is not available for defamation cases.

HSE entitled to receive/accept such reports.

Tom

Mellor

Report the threat to the Guards. Separate issue, but could see him in court over it.
Make sure the HSE follow up, if he is found guilty of the allegations, the defamation goes away on its own.

FreudianSlippers

Tom Young wrote: »

Legal aid is not available for defamation cases.

HSE entitled to receive/accept such reports.

Tom

FLAC will still discuss cases like this and assist in finding appropriate legal help AFAIK

Chloedancer

The sister is my mother - I'll organise an appointment with FLAC for her.

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

I highly suggest you have a look at Part 3 of the Defamation Act 2009 and then speak to someone at FLAC

Thanks. So the defence would be qualified privilege - that the HSE "had a duty to receive, or interest in receiving, the information contained in the statement" and "the defendant believed upon reasonable grounds that the said person or persons had such a duty or interest" and "the defendant had a corresponding duty to communicate, or interest in communicating, the information to such person or persons"?
She was very careful to make sure to only say things that she had seen herself or that other people had agreed to corroborate.

Since my aunt died no one in the family has been able to grieve properly because of the nonsense with this person. She went to great lengths to isolate my aunt from her family and friends after my uncle died and before her own death not long afterwards. She is now sending solicitors letters left right and centre, calling the Gardaí on family that go to the house and making false allegations against them. I think it's all over money. In her will my aunt left her everything. But my uncle who died first left a small premises he owned to his sister. It's only a small premises in an isolated area and not worth a whole lot - it was for sentimental reasons that he left it to her. But she wants that too. She has my uncle's will locked away and she had refused to give it to my aunt (the executor) when she asked. She has sent a solicitors letter to the family in which she claimed this premises as hers and warned them not to enter the premises without her permission where as before all the family had free access to it and even took over maintaining it after my uncle had an accident a few years ago. She doesn't know that his sister has gotten a copy the will and is going to a solicitor.

Wheelnut wrote: »

it was handled badly by the sister and she would have been better off reporting it to the Gardai. She can still do that.

In what way? (Honest question, not trying to be smart). When she wrote to the HSE she made sure it went to the case worker for the protection of older people. The HSE then asked her to make a complaint through the agency that employed her as a carer because they had procedures in place to deal with her concerns, and told her that they would be obliged to follow it up with the HSE. She was told by the HSE that this was the proper procedure. Maybe it was a bad idea to give her the letter first but she didn't want to be sneaky or underhanded about it. Some of the things this person did were disgusting and my mother just couldn't in good conscience let her go on caring for elderly people without saying anything. I think she also needed to confront her face to face over it for her own sake. If she went to the Gardaí could they do anything now that the people involved are dead?

My mother is killing herself with worry over this. She can't mourn properly with it all hanging over her. She's already very ill and it's affecting her health badly. We are all feeling a lot of guilt that we didn't see how bad things were for my aunt and uncle towards the end.

Wheelnut

Chloedancer wrote: »

In what way? (Honest question, not trying to be smart)...

You have shed some more light on the situation and I might not use the same phrase again, but I still think she made a mistake showing the letter to the alleged culprit. She may have felt it was the honest thing to do but she exposed herself to threats, abuse and hostility. It is not her job to challenge the alleged culprit, that's what the agencies are for. I still think she should report it to the Gardai because the alleged culprit is still very much alive.

Chloedancer

Wheelnut wrote: »

I still think she made a mistake showing the letter to the alleged culprit.

Yes I agree. I just want to get the whole mess sorted now so she can put it behind her.
I am also trying to persuade her to go to the Gardaí. For her going to the HSE was a huge thing to do but I think she's coming around to the idea.