Employer Accused of Sexual Harassment Can Pursue Defamation Suit

An employee alleging that her supervisor harassed her will have to face claims that she defamed the supervisor, the Massachusetts Appeals Court said Wednesday, shedding light on the scope of a state law protecting some free speech from retaliatory lawsuits.

The state’s law against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or anti-SLAPP, protects people who exercise their First Amendment right to petition the government from retaliatory lawsuits that seek to intimidate them. However, that law doesn’t apply to “statements made to private individuals by a person alleging sexual harassment,” the Appeals Court said in an order denying the employee’s special motion ...