Imagine stepping into office and find that your colleagues have made you the topic- uttering harmful false statements about you. But once they all set their eyes on you, they turn to their computers as though nothing has just happened. Or perhaps, one of your co-workers approaches you about some rumour about you, that has made rounds in office and you even have no idea how it all started. You maybe can’t prove them wrong because they are convinced that you’re either dating your boss because of your new promotion, or you don’t deserve the promotion because you’re lazy and under-experienced for such a position. Such can make you feel like your workplace isn’t a safe place to be anymore, but your self-esteem may also be affected. Slander is a spiteful, false, and defamatory statement that sometimes can spread around the office, it can damage a person’s reputation. But also, their productivity and happiness at work can be affected. The insulted employee might feel distressed to leave their job. Since slander is oral and is not written down on paper, it can be really hard to prove someone is making libellous comments about you. How can it be dealt with anyway? For Jimmy Nkurunziza, a managing director at a local IT firm, the best way to deal with slander is to prevent it from happening in the first place. For him, managers should aggressively dishearten deleterious office gossip from circulating. If possible, there should be office laws enforced to hinder slanderous acts and everyone should be allowed to sign. “In case such laws are broken, punishments ought to be given, or expulsions and even fired from work.” This he says, can create a safe and healthy workplace when no one plays on each other’s emotions. Nkurunziza notes that in scenarios where you find yourself in a slanderous state, before you take the issue to the HR or manager, have a chat with the person or people that spread wrong information about you, and let them know how badly they hurt you. If possible, let them know that whatever they said is false and they shouldn’t spread it to anyone again. If those people learn their lessons, then they won’t be able to hurt others in the future, however, if they don’t change, forward the matter to higher authorities in the company, he says. Nkurunziza explains that as an employee and a co-worker, it’s best not to engage in gossip at all, even when it seems interesting, at least resist giving your comments or walk away. He further says that although office gossip is a natural thing that happens in the workplace daily, it’s necessary to note that there is no kind of trouble caused or any misinterpretations happen because these small gossips can turn into slander and thus damaging a person’s reputation. For him, rumours shouldn’t be believed, if there has been ongoing gossip regarding a particular individual, not knowing the entire situation or reality, may lead it to be an ongoing office rumour that someone has started. If therefore, you don’t know the entire story, its best to ignore it. “Present evidence before taking any kind of necessary action, because in most cases, your co-workers may deny, and since you didn’t record them, you might look confused in front of your boss because you lack proof,” he says. Nkurunziza carries on that you can gather several people who have witnessed such conversations and use them as proof at the time when the conversation happened. Law experts state that a person can tell that they are slandered if any sort of statement is said which implies that the victim is unable to carry out their office or employment, any assertion that the slandered person somehow lacks integrity, and statements that hurt the person’s professional reputation. Under the law, slander becomes a take legal action case for defamation when the statement is made to someone or a group other than the person whose reputation would be damaged by the words. You must be the direct subject of the slander or easily identifiable, for example, if a nickname is used, it must be one that you are widely known by.
