Legal Question in Legal Ethics in California

Newspaper reporter broke confidentiality and ruined me

I worked for a company that was performing a number of illegal practices

that made national news. I was fired in great part because I would not go

along with them. Two years later, the story came up again in the press

with a new angle. My former employer was making me a scapegoat. A

reporter contacted me and promised to keep my name out of things if I

spoke to him ''on background''. He made the promise to me and a third

party he contacted me through. But when he wrote the article, he

contacted my former employer and read them quotes and attributed

them to me because he was ''friends'' with them. My former tracked me

down. I cannot get a job in that industry any more because this reporter

broke his promise and his paper's stated policy. This is a MAJOR

newspaper and a big reporter. I confronted the reporter, and all he did

was give me a perpetual free subscription to the paper as an apology.

There are voice, email and long distance records. I am almost broke,

working part-time in another industry, and would like to keep this as

quiet as possible, but this guy ruined me. What do I do? Newspaper

ethics is big news now and I don�t think they want this story out. I need

an attorney.

1 Answer from Attorneys

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