My aunt is defaming me
Q: Dear Mrs Macaulay,
My aunt who resides in Canada is defaming me, stating that I am HIV positive. She has sent me one of those messages which is safe on my cellphone. What can I do legally?
A: Your enquiry is very interesting and can be a very valuable means of informing readers about the tort of defamation.
You say your aunt who resides in Canada is defaming your name, by this you mean your character and reputation, by stating that you are HIV positive. You also say that she sent you one of her messages which you have saved on your cellular telephone. You have not stated why you say one of her messages, and whether or not if she sent any to other people, those people have so informed you, and have made it clear that because of what she stated that they would have nothing further to do with you, or at the very least are keeping their distance from you.
Anyway, you wish to know what you can legally do about what your aunt has been doing. Well, I think the best way I could go about assisting you is to tell you what you would need to prove in order to establish that you have indeed been defamed by your aunt.
You will have to prove the following:-
1. That your aunt has ‘published’ this imputation of you being HIV positive, which would imply that you are infectious and can infect someone else with what is known as a dreaded sexually transmitted disease. “Published” means not that she said it to you and only you, but that she told other persons who because of her statement would be affected by it and treat you in an exclusionary fashion.
2. That as a result of her publication you have in fact being excluded/avoided by persons with whom you normally associate on the basis that it is unsafe for them to associate with you.
3. If you are a woman, and your aunt’s imputation of you being HIV positive was published by her or is being published by her, then you would have been defamed and the imputation would be actionable per se by you. This means without proof of special damage. In fact, it is actionable by the mere fact of it being said about you and published by the speaker, because as I said earlier when someone publishes that you are HIV positive they are saying that you are infectious and by that act of saying so to others that is what enables you to file a claim and be awarded damages because again, you would be avoided by some of your cohorts as a result of it.
4. If you can prove also that her statement of you being HIV positive also implies, if you are a woman, unchastity by you, this also gives you an actionable claim, per se, for damages.
So my dear, if you can prove these things you can file and claim against your aunt either here in Jamaica if the publication took place here, or in Canada if it took place there. To file in Jamaica your aunt does not have to reside here, you merely need her correct address. In order to file in Canada you do not need to reside there either, but you would need to retain a lawyer there to act of you. You must of course retain a lawyer here in Jamaica for the same purpose.
I hope I have been clear enough for you. I wish you the best of luck.
Margarette May Macaulay is an attorney-at-law, Supreme Court mediator, notary public and women’s and children’s rights advocate. Send questions via e-mail to allwoman@jamaicaobserver. com; or write to All Woman, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5.
DISCLAIMER:
The contents of this article are for informational purposes only and must not be relied upon as an alternative to legal advice from your own attorney.
