“Which office do I go to to get my reputation back?” Tavis Smiley refuses to go quietly into that good night after being sacked by PBS, reports ABC:

“If having a consensual relationship with a colleague years ago is the stuff that leads to this kind of public humiliation and personal destruction, heaven help us,” he said. “This has gone too far. And I, for one, intend to fight back.”

Smiley claims that PBS wouldn’t allow him to present any evidence or challenge the allegations. I’m not an employment law specialist, and there are quite possibly contract law issues in play here. To be sure, without facts it’s hard to make up one’s mind about PBS’ treatment of Smiley.

Nonetheless, it raises two important questions: First, has the combination of assumed guilt and trial-by-media in harassment allegations indeed gone “too far?” And second, even if PBS did not make a “statement” defaming Smiley, can an action (like publicly suspending or firing someone) be interpreted as a defamatory statement?
*Classical reference in headline.