The Goddard School / Goddard Systems

Date of Incident: October 1st, 2020

Client #: I'm not sure what our family's client number is so I have attached an invoice that shows our Goddard School payment for your records.

Description of Incident: My wife, Ashley Messer, was put into a group Facebook message by a newer employee of The Goddard School in Knoxville, TN. Megan Bartolon is the name of the employee. Megan started a Facebook message that included herself, three other Goddard School teachers and my wife, Ashley. Two of the employees in this Facebook message has since quit because of Anoula's favoritism towards Megan and her lack of professionalism.

Megan's direct statement to my wife, with the other Goddard teachers included was; "What's not appropriate is the relationship that Alyssa (Goddard School teacher at the time) has been having with your husband." My wife's message (seen in blue in one of the attachments) was; "I don't think it is appropriate to be discussing this at my child's daycare and quite frankly, it's not appropriate for me to be included in this group message." You can see the three teachers' names at the top of the message - Hannah (quit the following week), Alyssa (quit the following week) & Lindsey (still currently employed). My wife continued in saying; "I'm not sure what you're referring to but I can assure you there is no inappropriate relationship going on between my husband and Alyssa."

My wife and I were furious! This Facebook message began on the evening of Thursday, October 1st, 2020 and my wife and I scheduled an appointment with Anoula, the franchisee, the following day - Friday, October 2nd, 2020.

We expressed our displeasure with her employee's Facebook message and verbal gossip throughout The Goddard School with the other teachers. Anoula said, and I quote; "If Megan really said this, she will be relieved of her duties immediately." We wholeheartedly agreed with that decision. We ask Anoula is she wanted copies of her employee's statement and she said; "No. I will get them from Megan."

Almost three weeks have passed since our sit down with Anoula McCarren and nothing has been done. We have contacted her office, left messages and additionally called her mobile number multiple times with no response. Getting no response from leadership in almost three weeks is the premise of this written complaint. Being former military, I respect the chain of command that is in place for businesses. We have been left with no choice, other than to escalate this situation to you. My wife and I consider ourselves to be upstanding citizens that serve our community and our names have been tarnished throughout the facility and staff of The Goddard School.

The outlined Tennessee state defamation laws are listed/labeled below:

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Tennessee defamation laws
In Tennessee, defamation occurs when one party damages the character or reputation of another party. Libel is written defamation; slander is spoken defamation; and the TN defamation statute of limitations is a mere six months.

Tennessee courts employ a 4-prong defamation test. For a statement to be considered libelous or slanderous, it must:

-Be false;
-Have caused harm to befall the plaintiff;
-Be about the plaintiff; and
-Have been published or broadcast negligently, with reckless disregard for the truth, or with actual malice.

Tennessee, like every state, must adhere to federal slander and libel statutes.
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My wife and I strongly believe that the appropriate action should be taken. It has not. We understand that verbal gossip can be damaging but also difficult to prove, however, in this instance, it is written and clear. If this is not handled within the corporate realm, we will potentially be seeking legal action under Tennessee State Defamation/Defamation of Character Laws. Please reach out to us directly if you need anything further. Our phone number and email address are below.

[protected]
colt.[protected]@gmail.com