Is all speech protected by the 1st Amendment Lets say you go

Is all speech protected by the 1st Amendment? Let\'s say you go to your competitor, pull him aside, and tell him he lies and cheats his way to the top (when actually he\'s just a better salesman). IS this defamation? Why or why not? How can you change this example to something that qualifies as defamation?

Solution

Defamation is something which can be considered as to destroy the good image or reputation of someone publicly. It can be in oral(slander) or in written way(libel).

In this statement 1st person doesn\'t destroy the image or reputation of his competitor because he doesn\'t say it publicly or to the top. He just say him personally which can be considered as the act of \'jealousy\'. If the 1st person say same statement to its other colleagues or to the top of the management though his competitor is way better than him then it can be considered as \'slander\' or in other words defamation.