Defamation & Work-Related Torts
PRF Law’s Defamation and Work-Related Torts Practice enforces the rights of workers, professionals, and other people whose reputations and careers are harmed by false or defamatory statements made by employers, the news media, or businesses.
Federal, state, and local tort law protect people from having others make false and defamatory statements about them—whether those statements are made by former employers, public officials, members of the media, or business leaders. It may also violate the law for a business to improperly interfere with another person’s efforts to obtain future employment or contractual opportunities.
The Defamation & Work-Related Torts We Enforce:
PRF Law enforces defamation law and other work-related torts, including the following types of violations:
An employer, executive, or supervisor making false or disparaging remarks about a current or former employee or taking other improper actions to prevent them from obtaining a new job.
An employer, executive, or supervisor retaliating against a person for complaining about discrimination or malfeasance by making false or disparaging remarks about them.
A newspaper, blog, or other media publishing false statements that harm the reputation of workers and professionals.
Making an Impact
Peter Romer-Friedman has litigated and successfully resolved high-profile defamation lawsuits, including cases against the Daily Caller and Rep. Trey Gowdy.
In 2020, Peter and his co-counsel filed a lawsuit on behalf of Imran Awan and four other House of Representatives IT staffers against the Daily Caller, former Daily Caller reporter Luke Rosiak, and Salem Media Group, alleging that the Defendants defamed the Awans by publishing a book called Obstruction of Justice that accuses the Awans of various crimes. In the case, Awan v. Daily Caller, Inc. et al., No. 2020 CA 000652B (D.C. Super.), Peter and his co-counsel defeated motions to dismiss filed by the defendants and anti-SLAPP motions filed by Rosiak and Salem Media Group. In February 2023, the Awans reached a confidential settlement with the Daily Caller and Luke Rosiak. Because they did not settle with Salem Media Group, the Awans will continue to litigate their defamation, unjust enrichment, and intentional infliction of emotion distress claims against Salem Media Group.
Peter also settled a defamation lawsuit that his client Major Bradley Podliska filed against the Chairman of the House Benghazi Committee. In Podliska v. House Benghazi Committee and Rep. Trey Gowdy, No. 15 Civ. 2037 (D.D.C.), Major Bradley Podliska alleged that he had been fired by the House Benghazi Committee for needing to take military leave from his job as a Committee investigator and for refusing to unduly focus on Hillary Clinton in the Committee’s probe. Mr. Podliska also alleged that he was defamed by Rep. Gowdy, who made false and disparaging remarks about him in interviews with the national media after it was reported that Mr. Podliska was planning to sue the Committee. The Washington Post reported in 2017 that “Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) used $150,000 in taxpayer dollars to settle with a former aide who alleged he was fired in part because he was not willing to focus his investigative work on Hillary Clinton.”
Relevant Cases
