Defamation can ruin your career. It’s a serious issue, especially if you have been through an employment dispute or if you are going through one right now. You must know what it is and how it can impact you.

In a very basic sense, defamation is just making false statements with the goal of ruining a person’s reputation. The person making the statements is defaming that individual and spreading misinformation. This can be done in print or through conversations. Generally speaking, defamation that happens through speech is called slander, while the same act conveyed through the written word is called libel.

How does this relate to your employment dispute?

Well, perhaps you had a contract with a company to provide a service for a set amount of time. Halfway through the job, they seriously breached that contract. Since they hadn’t followed it, you then walked away from the job.

When trying to get another job in the future, you found out that your previous employer was going around and spreading lies and misinformation about you. They were making claims about your character, blaming you for breaching the contract, and making you appear all but unemployable to everyone else.

Not only did you lose that one job because of what they did, but they may have ruined your career and kept you from numerous jobs in the future. Perhaps other companies didn’t even reach out to you when they would have otherwise, based on that misinformation alone.

If this happens to you, it’s frustrating and devastating. Make sure you know how to protect your future and what legal steps to take.

Sexual harassment is illegal, and it’s something everyone needs to take seriously. In the past year, there have been many reports of harassment, some going back years or even decades. It is clear that this is a big problem and that employees need to know their rights.

So, what should you do? Here are a few critical steps to take:

• Write down everything that happens. Start keeping a journal. Do not just rely on your memories alone.
• When you write things down, be as specific as you can. Name names. Write down dates and times.
• Report the harassment within the company. While this may sound like an obvious next step, it’s something people often neglect to do.
• Talk to co-workers. Are they facing the same problems? Can you work together to protect yourselves? Even just telling people what is happening to you can help.
• You can also use those co-workers as witnesses. It makes your case a lot stronger if you have people who back up what you’re saying and relate the same account.
• Consider keeping performance records. Some employers try to fire you for made-up reasons after you file a complaint. If you have records showing that your work is as good as it’s ever been, you may be able to stop this type of wrongful termination.
• Don’t accept it. This is not how it has to be. It’s not what you deserve. Most of all, it is not your fault.

As you move forward with this case, make sure you understand what legal options you have to protect yourself and your career.

Discrimination in the workplace often happens because one person holds a deep bias against another person. A supervisor believes that African American workers are not as productive as Caucasian workers, for instance, and so he discriminates against the African American workers when hiring new employees or assigning jobs to them. This is just one example of many potential biases people could hold.

What gets tricky is that people are not always obvious and honest about the way that they feel. They may deny that these biases exist. In truth, they may not even realize that they do. But researchers who studied it found that these biases could very well exist anyway, even if people who hold them appear to be fair and well-balanced from the outside. It’s something that researchers had been considering for a long time.

“Twenty years ago, we hypothesized that there were people who said they were not prejudiced but who really did have unconscious negative stereotypes and beliefs,” said one psychologist of their findings. “It was like theorizing about the existence of a virus, and then one day seeing it under a microscope.”

This does make things very complicated. You may feel discriminated against in the workplace, but that doesn’t mean the person doing it will be outright with their feelings. They may seem like they would never do such a thing. They may have a great reputation. They may even claim to be your friend.

Remember, none of that means that it’s all in your head. You could still be experiencing very real discrimination. Make sure you know what legal steps you can take.

You’re at work when someone makes an offensive sexual comment about you. They walk away and you’re left sitting at your desk, staring at the computer screen, unable to believe it just happened.

Over the next week, it becomes common. You can’t tell if they think that the comments are charming or funny or if they’re actually trying to insult you. Regardless, it’s very offensive and creates a toxic work environment. Should you say anything?

Experts note that you want to consider your options carefully to get the best results.

“When people feel that they have to speak up in the moment and they aren’t comfortable doing so, they do it badly,” one expert noted, saying that it may be wise to think carefully about what you want to say before talking to the person.

At the same time, she understood that it’s not wise to stay silent entirely, which is why a lot of these incidents go unreported. “One of the things I’ve learned from my work,” she added, “is that sometimes you don’t know the impact of a comment. Saying something rather than remaining silent can be a powerful thing.”

Saying something allows you to move forward. Maybe they don’t know they’re being offensive and they will honestly be surprised to learn how you felt. This can change their behavior. Maybe they know it’s offensive and they don’t care. Once you know this, you can move forward by talking to HR and considering all of your options — which could include taking legal steps to combat workplace harassment.

Either way, it begins by refusing to ignore illegal, offensive behavior at work.

You get fired, and your boss tells you it was because of something you said at work. While you are a good employee in other regards — you do your actual job very well — they do not like what you had to say and they don’t want you in the workplace with the other employees.

You understand that some people may have been offended by what you said. Maybe it was inflammatory in nature, and you knew that at the time. But you also know that you have a right to freedom of speech, granted to you by the First Amendment. Doesn’t that mean you are protected? Isn’t it illegal for them to fire you based on what you said?

It is not. While you do technically have freedom of speech, that just means freedom from interference by the government. It does not mean the freedom to say anything you desire without consequences. If you’re at work, your employer can absolutely fire you based on what you said. Your right to free speech essentially just means that the government can’t arrest you and imprison you based on what you said.

Employers definitely have the right to terminate employees for many reasons, as long as they do not center around things like age, gender, religion or race. These are protected classes. If what you said created a toxic workplace or insulted another worker, for instance, they absolutely can let you go.

It is very important to understand your actual rights as an employee. If you do get fired illegally, then you need to know what legal steps to take.

Perhaps you work in a doctor’s office. It is a large practice with a large billing department.

You are certain there is a scheme afoot to defraud Medicare. You would like to report this to someone, but you do not want to get in trouble and lose your job. What should you do?

Reporting fraud

Knowingly presenting the federal government with a false claim for payment, using a fraudulent statement or record to obtain payment from the government or conspiring with others to do so are examples of violations under the False Claims Act. If you are aware of such fraudulent activities in the office where you work, you can file an action confidentially, under seal, in a federal district court.

False Claims Act penalties

Those found liable for False Claims Act violations face a penalty of three times the amount the government was defrauded, plus $5,000 to $10,000 in civil penalties for each fraudulent claim. As the whistleblower, you can expect an award of 15 to 30 percent of the total recovery amount. Keep in mind that you must file a lawsuit to qualify for the award, which will come your way after the government receives payment from the defendant.

An appreciative government

Medicare, Medicaid and similar targets lose billions of dollars annually because of healthcare fraud. Insider employees like you are a big help in uncovering fraudulent activities the government could not learn about on its own. A study published in the concerning financial incentives and the disclosure of corporate wrongdoing found that the process offers the most incentive for a whistleblower to share valuable information the government can use in tracking down fraudsters. Explore your legal options so you can gain a thorough understanding of actions, how the government proceeds with these confidential claims and how you can benefit.