Wrongful Interference. Julie Whitchurch was an employee of Vizant Technologies, LLC. After she was fired, she created a website falsely accusing Vizant of fraud and mismanagement to discourage others from doing business with the company. Vizant filed a suit in a federal district court against her, alleging wrongful interference with a business relationship.
The court concluded that Whitchurch’s online criticism of Vizant adversely affected its employees and operations, forced it to accept reduced compensation to obtain business, and deterred outside investment. The court ordered Whitchurch to stop her online efforts to discourage others from doing business with Vizant.
How does the motivation for Whitchurch’s conduct differ from other cases that involve wrongful interference with a business relationship? What does this motivation suggest about the ethics in this situation? Discuss these issues and questions with your peers this week. Also, consider if there are other sections, such as 5.2c Defamation, that could perhaps be discussed here.