Someone said something false about you, other people heard it, and it's costing you: a job, a client, a relationship, your standing in a community. "Defamation of character" is the phrase people search; in New York the legal claims are libel (written or published) and slander (spoken), and together they are a real cause of action with real remedies. This guide explains what actually counts, because a large share of what feels like defamation isn't, and knowing the difference is what separates a strong first move from an expensive one.
To have a defamation claim in New York you generally need all of these:
1. A false statement of fact. Not an opinion, not an insult, not an exaggeration: a statement that is capable of being proven true or false, and is false. "He's a thief" in the middle of a heated argument is closer to insult; "he stole $4,000 from the escrow account" is a statement of fact.
2. Published to a third party. Someone other than you heard or read it. A nasty text sent only to you is not defamation; the same text forwarded to your employer is.
3. Fault. For a private person, the speaker must at least have been negligent about whether it was true. If the statement concerns a matter of public concern, New York requires more, the speaker must have acted with "gross irresponsibility." Public figures must show actual malice: knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for it.
4. Harm. Either actual damages you can prove, or a statement in one of the categories where the law presumes harm (next section).
New York recognizes four kinds of statements so obviously damaging that you don't have to prove you lost money. A false statement that:
(a) charges you with a serious crime; (b) tends to injure you in your trade, business, or profession; (c) says you have a loathsome disease; or (d) imputes serious sexual misconduct.
Most of the disputes that reach this office fall into (a) or (b): "she was fired for stealing," "he's not actually licensed," "their food gave my whole family food poisoning and they know it." In those cases the law does the heavy lifting on damages, which is exactly why a cease and desist letter citing the category lands differently than a letter that just says "that's not true."
Opinion. New York protects it broadly. "In my opinion he's dishonest," "worst contractor I've ever hired," "I wouldn't trust her with my dog", courts read these as the speaker's view, not a provable fact. The line gets harder when an opinion implies undisclosed facts ("I know things about him that would end his career"), but pure opinion is off the table.
Truth. A complete defense. If the statement is substantially true, there is no claim, whatever the motive for saying it.
Speech on matters of public interest, including reviews. Since 2020, New York's anti-SLAPP law (Civil Rights Law § 76-a) covers any communication in a public forum about an issue of public interest, which courts read broadly, and which includes a genuine consumer review of a business. A lawsuit over protected speech can be dismissed early and can make the plaintiff pay the defendant's attorney's fees under § 70-a. This is why an honest service screens out review disputes before drafting anything.
Statements in court papers and to certain officials. What someone says in a lawsuit, a police report, or a formal complaint is generally privileged, even if false. The remedy for a false police report is a different one.
A defamation claim in New York must be brought within one year of publication (CPLR 215(3)). For online statements, New York applies the single-publication rule: the year generally runs from when the post first went up, not from each time someone reads it. Every week you wait is a week of that year gone, and evidence, posts, accounts, witnesses' memories, degrades in the meantime.
Damages for harm to reputation, emotional distress, and, in per se cases, presumed damages without proof of loss. Where the speaker acted with malice, punitive damages may be available. Courts can also, in appropriate cases, order a retraction or an injunction against repeating statements already found to be false. What you generally cannot get is an order forcing someone to be silent before a court has decided the statements are defamatory, which is why the first step is almost always a letter, not a lawsuit.
A defamation lawsuit in New York is expensive, slow, and public. For the great majority of disputes, a former employee, an ex-partner, a competitor, a neighbor, the proportionate first move is a cease and desist letter that quotes the statement verbatim, names the per se category, demands deletion and a retraction by a date, and directs the speaker to preserve the evidence. It costs a fraction of a complaint, it usually resolves the matter or produces a response you can work with, and if it's ignored it becomes Exhibit A.
If you want to understand the letter first, read what every line of a cease and desist letter does. If the statements are serious, an accusation of crime or professional misconduct, the letter should come from counsel: the attorney-signed defamation cease and desist is $499 flat, screened before you pay, drafted with the statute, signed by a New York attorney, and mailed and emailed within 48 hours. If the speaker keeps going, you'll have the record you need to decide whether a lawsuit is worth it.
No. New York has no criminal defamation statute; it is a civil matter. The remedies are money damages and, in some cases, court orders, not arrest or prosecution.
Yes, if the statement falls into a per se category, accusation of a serious crime, injury to your trade or profession, a loathsome disease, or serious sexual misconduct. Damages are presumed. Outside those categories you generally need to show actual harm.
One year from publication under CPLR 215(3). For online posts the year generally runs from the original posting date, not from each new view.
Usually not. An honest account of a customer's experience is opinion and, in New York, protected speech on a matter of public interest under the anti-SLAPP law. A review that asserts a false fact, 'they stole my deposit' when they didn't, can be different, and the line is exactly what attorney screening is for.
Send the letter first in almost every case. It is faster, far cheaper, often resolves the matter, and if ignored becomes your proof that the speaker knew and continued. A lawsuit is the step after a letter fails, not the first move.