Girl quits her job on dry erase board, emails entire office,hilarity ensues

[rocketpig]

noname2200 said:

rocketpig said:

Whether she mentions the company name or not has nothing to do with what we're talking about here and it proves nothing. On both sides of this case, there simply isn't enough relevant fact to do much of anything for or against either other party. What will the boss sue for? You can't sue for speculative damages. Therefore, he has to prove that her email caused him financial harm (ie. line-by-line breakdown of damages, not "I think I've lost clients"). Public embarrassment is not a legitimate reason to sue in the eyes of the court.

What about the torts of defamation or false light?  If I recall correctly, a private figure (like her boss) needn't prove any actual damages to recover nominal damages.  In fact, because it's injurious to his profession, it may qualify as defamation per se in some jurisdictions, although this isn't my area, so I could be wrong.

Mind you, the damages really will be nominal, so the only reason to press suit would be to be a dick (one with too much money on his hands...).

Technically it's possible but as you said, the jury must award him these damages based on his public stature, damage to income, and so forth. It would literally be peanuts. Those lawsuits are also INCREDIBLY hard to win.