A manager at the Cambridge Marriott hotel who was fired after he was accused of sexually harassing a bartender can’t sue the bartender, according to the state Appeals Court. The manager sued the bartender for defamation, claiming she slandered him to the hotel and wrongly caused him to lose his job. But the court said that a person can’t be sued for defamation for statements made in relation to a court case.

In this situation, the bartender hadn’t yet filed a court case when she complained about the manager to the hotel. However, by that point she had decided to file a lawsuit and to make a complaint to the state Commission Against Discrimination, and that was enough, the court said.