Legality warning?
 

Recently, there was a post where someone had used a window washing service and when the work was completed, the homeowner discovered he was missing some jewelry.

He posted the experience and titled the thread with the name of the company and "Thief".

I replied that he should be very careful of calling a person or company a thief on a public forum due to legal repercussion.

Very shortly after my post, the thread disappeared.

I am wondering if the moderater removed the thread, the OP decided it would be a good idea to recind, or what?

Was I out of line warning someone about possible legal repercussions for libel, loss of income, etc. without hard evidence?

Not a Legal Question...........

"Was I out of line warning someone about.........."

You being out of line, or within the lines is not a legal question.

(I'm not a dentist, not a electrician, not a lawyer)

I have made similar suggestions in the past, as this is a public forum, posters need to be careful about what they put in print, so OP you IMHO, did nothing wrong. As for the removal of the post, the author can edit and effectively remove a post (I have done this in the past when a post drew a few very negative comments). Usually if the moderator removes a post, they send a note to the original poster, but do not post publicly unless they are closing the thread.

I did change the title based on your comment.

Damaging someone's good name without proof does seem to be slander or libel.

I don't know which. I will ask one of the lawyers who have joined our family. We can't seem to keep them out.

Libel=in writing, print or published.
Slander=spoken

I have seen many clearly libelous posts on this forum.

Libel or slander only if it is not the truth. If it's the truth you better have proof when you make statements like that whether it's in writing or spoken publicly.

Either way..................You're all good with your comment.

:beer3: