Bar’s posts about fired server can support defamation case

The judge granted the employer’s motion to dismiss in part and denied it in part. She let a defamation claim move forward on five of the restaurant’s statements – among them that the worker “had no authority to speak on behalf of the entire restaurant,” that she was “not a manager,” and that she committed a “breach of conduct and protocol.” The judge found those statements could be proven true or false, which kept them alive. She did not rule on whether they were actually defamatory. 

Much of the fight turned on paperwork. The former employee alleged she never signed an employment contract, and that the restaurant had no written “zero-tolerance policy on discrimination” and no conduct code for staff giving interviews. The employer pointed to a signed server manual containing a harassment policy. Because the case was only at the motion-to-dismiss stage, the judge accepted the employee’s account as true for now and left those questions for later. 

The court also narrowed the case. It dismissed a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress, finding the posts did not meet the high bar the law sets, and it dismissed a second, near-identical defamation count without prejudice. 

Two wage claims survived. The employee alleged that 24 of her paychecks failed to clear for insufficient funds, and that she waited 10 days for her final pay after termination. She also said the controversy cost her a separate consulting job that paid $85,000 a year. 

The ruling decides nothing on the merits. It only settles which claims can move forward.