If you wish make an accusation against someone, you need to protect yourself from lawsuits. If such accusation is true, you may not be able to prove it. Therefore, you would leave yourself vulnerable to a disastrous lawsuit. One of the best ways to do that is to frame your accusation in the form a question, rather than a statement.
For example, let’s suppose that you believe a coworker named Joe Blow embezzled money from your employer. Instead of saying “Joe Blow embezzled money from our employer,” it would better to say, “Is it possible that Joe Blow embezzled money from our employer?” That way, you are not making a definite statement. If Mr. Blow protests, your retort can be that you never accused him of anything – and you would be telling the truth.
In these days of mega lawsuits in which people won’t hesitate to sue at the drop of a hat, you have to be mindful of your words and play it safe. Like the childrens’ song goes, “Be careful little tongue what you say,” to which I would add, “Be careful little fingers what you write or type.”
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