My good friend at work is dating a guy that is also a coworker and at first I thought this guy was pretty cool.

As it turns out, he’s batshit insane and a horrible human being.

It has come to my attention recently that he had been spreading rumors and information about me and sexual identity (Bi), outing me in order to manipulate the work place into being “against me”. Including outing me to close work friends of mine that I was keeping that part of my life private from out of fear of losing their friendship.

I have already gone through HR, and that employee is currently being investigated, but the more I find out, the worse it gets.

This guy has been threatened by my friendship with his girlfriend, my close friend who I have known longer than him, and without either of our knowledge, he installed a spy app on her phone which gave him access to every text, snap, instagram, Facebook, phone calls, and even what she does online. I know this because she came to me saying her phone was acting up, and me being ex-IT, found the app he installed on her phone.

Recently I just heard from another coworker that he has been telling people of my gay sexual relationships which I do not recall ever telling him. He has also told coworkers about things I have texted her verbatim, so I am starting to think that he may have possibly gathered information about my sex life through text messages to her, without either of us knowing he could read them, and has been telling my other work colleagues.

I know this guy isn’t coming back to the work place, but I feel so crossed that I’m not sure even that’s enough. I want to know if, because he obtained that information illegally, I could file a lawsuit against him as well.

I have felt so violated all this week because of this guy, someone who I thought I was friends with and even defended at times, stabbed me in the back and did this horrible thing to me.

Obviously this is lemmy and I don’t expect there to be any lawyers here, but do you think I may have a case?

  • Candelestine@lemmy.world
    53·
    1 year ago

    Can you demonstrate a sound reasoning for having suffered damages in a quantifiable, monetary way? This isn’t always strictly necessary, but it sure is helpful. Hurt feelings are great and all, but they generally aren’t worth monetary compensation on their own.

    This also, of course, depends on the local laws wherever you live, and can vary considerably.

      • forgotten_xennial@lemmy.world
        36·
        1 year ago

        I believe the person commenting is trying to establish if you have “standing” by the legal definition. If no harm/damages or potential harm/damages can be proven, most judges will not hear a case per lack of standing.

      • Candelestine@lemmy.world
        16·
        1 year ago

        That’s difficult, as that’s the job of the criminal justice system as opposed to the civil, which is more for rectifying wrongs with money. You could potentially file charges if what he did is illegal in your jurisdiction.

        Just to re-iterate, laws are different in different places, as well, which limits any advice we can give. Not just a little different, but very different. While I understand not wanting to divulge personal details online, this is as far as we can go.

          • Candelestine@lemmy.world
            10·
            1 year ago

            np. If what he did was genuinely illegal under some law of your land, whether country or state/province, you would simply go to the police and file the charges. Taking it from there becomes their job. Which they don’t always do, but that’s a different topic entirely.

            Good luck.

          • mildpeach@kbin.social
            71·
            1 year ago

            Don’t ask police or friends or even an attorney. Ask your local version of legal aide. This is basically what they do.

          • SomeoneElse@lemmy.world
            1·
            1 year ago

            If you take action against him, is he likely to take it out on your friend? If she can’t leave him, that might inform your decision.

          • Jellojiggle@lemmy.fmhy.ml
            17·
            1 year ago

            Why doesn’t your “friend” stick up for you to this asshole? If legal routes don’t work, you can always find some sort of petty revenge to make his life a living hell. If you’re into that kind of thing.

            • half_fiction@lemmy.dbzer0.com
              11·
              1 year ago

              It seems pretty clear the friend is in an abusive relationship, so it really isn’t that simple. The comment you’re replying to literally described how their friend felt unsafe taking any action, especially with her child living there, so I think that’s your answer.

              • Jellojiggle@lemmy.fmhy.ml
                2·
                1 year ago

                You are correct. Thank you for holding me accountable. Sometimes I can be shortsighted, as it is human nature, and not consider the whole story. Sorry OP for coming off as a dick. I am empathetic to your situation and I hope you find some justice and your friend and her child can find a way to leave safely.

      • Mic_Check_One_Two@reddthat.com
        4·
        1 year ago

        The only thing you can do in court is file a lawsuit against him. The courts are split into two halves: Civil court, which is where you sue people, settle divorces, file evictions, etc… And criminal court, which is where the state files criminal charges against people. Any kind of criminal court action would need to be filed by the state. Or more specifically, it’s filed by the attorney general on behalf of the state. Regular citizens can’t file in criminal court.

        You could potentially a restraining order or order of protection against him if you can prove that he’s harassing you. In fact, a lawyer may suggest you do exactly that simply to get him to chill out while the civil case proceeds. But that will need to be backed up by actual proof, and hurt feelings aren’t enough to justify it. You’ll need to prove a repeated pattern of harassing behavior, that you’ve asked him to stop, and that the behavior is negatively impacting your day-to-day life in a meaningful way.

      • itsAsin@sh.itjust.works
        98·
        1 year ago

        you want a publicly funded entity to enforce a personal grudge? yes this definitely does sound immature.

        • work is slow@lemmy.world
          9·
          1 year ago

          Or they want a publicly funded entity to enforce stalking laws against somebody who may have committed an actual crime and invasion of privacy.