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Be Careful in Preparing Personnel Documents

By Kevin C. McCormick
April 28, 2010

After four days of trial in Maryland's Montgomery County Circuit Court, a jury refused to give a former employee any damages on her claim that she was defamed in a memorandum recommending her termination. That memorandum was prepared jointly by the Vice President of Clinical Services for a local hospice and three other hospice managers. Only the vice president, however, was singled out for a lawsuit (Susan Lark v. Beverly Paukstis, Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland, Civil No. 292664-V, Jury Verdict April 9, 2009).

Since many employers regularly review their employees and record those assessments in written documents, the fact that the managerial employee could be sued for defamation based on those actions probably comes as a big surprise for many of you. A closer look at this case, however, is instructive.

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