ADP Sues Zenefits for Defamation
Reading the complaint, ADP is not likely come close to winning.The defamation they claimed happened is that Zenefits "alleged that ADP intentionally sought to cause harm to ADP’s clients solely to gain an unfair competitive advantage against Zenefits.”Even if you argue this is defamation per se (and not per quod), about a matter of private concern, they'd still have to prove "4. That [name of defendant] failed to use reasonable care to determine the truth or falsity of the statement(s)."(california jury instructions for this charge will be here:
https://www.justia.com/trials-litigation/docs/caci/1700/1704...)There is a near 0% chance they can prove a lack of reasonable care here.
Plus, they open themselves up to discovery on any memos, etc they've written about this decision internally, which almost certainly show the statement is truth.Note the above is the best case. If it's determined to be a matter of public concern, or defamation per quod, ADP's chances go down.