05.03.10 The 8th Sign of a Negative-Gossip Conversation

8. Legal Risks

As explained in chapter two on the downside of indulging in negative gossip, conversations that carry legal implications in case the victim was to sue the gossiper are another sign of such rumours.

In Genesis 39:12-20, the bible narrates a story of how Potiphar’s wife wanted to get intimate with Joseph. However, when he refused, she claimed that he had wanted to force himself on her. I would like to infer that the news of Joseph’s attempted rape did not stop within the walls of Potiphar’s house; but the ‘negative gossip’ could have been publicised within the entire elite Egyptian community. Sometimes I wonder what happened when Joseph became the Prime Minister of Egypt. Had it been these days, Joseph could have sued the woman and her gossip-mates for defamation and other damages. The fact that legal risks were a possibility is in itself a sign that such a conversation would have been categorised as negative gossip.

As narrated in chapter one, we see a sign of a legally-sensitive discussion at JuaLink, where Lulu told Neema that Faraja had been hired through the back door, courtesy of a love relationship between the publicity manager and Eliya dating back to university days. Moreover, not only did Lulu confront Faraja’s husband with the same information but she circulated the fabrications all over JuaLink. And since Faraja was the wife of one of the hard-nosed and ferocious lawyers in the city, that kind of gossip was prone to attracting legal consequences for Lulu and her friends, since it comprised defamatory statements against the publicity manager.

Therefore, in a gossip-ridden organisation, legal risks can be a real threat. So, whenever you engage in a conversation, check whether the content could attract any legal consequences in case the people being discussed were to hear what is spoken about them.