defamation by publishing to a newspaper

[keoke]

During a contentious labor dispute, an employee (who manages payroll) of a community college sent an editorial to a local newspaper publishing faculty salaries (without naming the individual faculty members) and understating (vastly) the proportionate amount of hours worked pursuant to the employment contract. Her insinuation was that faculty was overpaid. Her factual statements were incorrect, and could easily be proven wrong by a simple reading of the contract. Could this be defamation of character or some sort of invasion of privacy? She gleaned her salary information by peeking into faculty personnel files, which are confidential. She also added in overtime when stating her salary figures to the newspaper. Thanks in advance for your response.

 

[calalily]

Contact the newspaper with the correct facts and documents (copy of a sample contract) to back them up. If the employee did something illegal she should be reported to the police or if unethical to the the board of trustrees of the college. I may be wrong but I think salaries aren't protected; they may be available through the freedom of information act. However, the fact she went through employee files (if you have proof) and she is unauthorized should be addressed by the college and at the very least her supervisor.