slan·der
ˈslandər/Submit
nounLAW
the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation.
"he is suing the TV network for slander"
verb
make false and damaging statements about (someone).
"they were accused of slandering the head of state"
synonyms: defame (someone's character), blacken someone's name, tell lies about, speak ill/evil
def·a·ma·tion
ˌdefəˈmāSH(ə)n/Submit
noun
the action of damaging the good reputation of someone; slander or libel.
Legally what he is doing fits both of these, lawyer or not.
As far as stealing goes...
When you strip rewards from a person doing no wrong, knowing those rewards go back to a pool that you then immediately take self appointed rewards from that very same pool....
You have just stole their money plain and simple.
Disagreement on rewards - - is not stealing from anyone. @transisto has made that abundantly clear to several individuals. There can be no theft from the reward pool. Payout is done when payout is done, and payouts can be voted up or down until a certain time.