18 results for 'cat:"Immunity" AND cat:"Defamation"'.
J. Zmuda finds the lower court erroneously denied the superintendent's motion for summary judgment on defamation claims brought by the principal. The statements about accusations of sexual harassment and inappropriate touching of students were made only after a complete investigation and were not reckless or malicious, given that they included only verbatim statements from the investigative report; therefore, the superintendent was entitled to political subdivision immunity. Reversed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Zmuda, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-1798, Categories: Employment, immunity, defamation
J. Scott grants a teen cheerleader’s father’s motion to dismiss in this nuanced defamation suit wherein the mother of a squad member of his daughter’s harassed his daughter by sending anonymous text messages to the cheerleading gym’s owner, alleging the teenager was vaping, drinking and posting revealing pictures online. The mother failed to state a claim for defamation by saying she was falsely accused in the media by the father of creating deepfakes of the girl.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Scott, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv147, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Tort, immunity, defamation
J. Martinez upholds the lower court's refusal to dismiss a doctor's defamation claims against a pain management company with which she was once a member. The company fails to show the investigatory agency to which it allegedly defamed the doctor was involved in the administration of the functions of part of the government and, thus, immune. Affirmed in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Martinez, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 04-22-00749-CV, Categories: Health Care, immunity, defamation
[Consolidated] J. Miller finds the trial court improperly denied the professor's motion to dismiss claims against him in the traffic device manufacturer's lawsuit over a study of its devices that returned unfavorable results to the Florida Department of Transportation. The trial court should have dismissed on sovereign immunity grounds, as the allegations against the professor do not overcome the fact that he should have been protected from liability as a state employee due to the terms of the underlying contract with Florida International University, where the professor was working at the time he became the "co-principal investigator" in the study. On remand the trial court is ordered to dismiss the claims against the professor. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Miller, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: 22-2121, Categories: immunity, defamation, Contract
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J. Winkler finds the lower court erroneously denied the motion for summary judgment filed by the disability services board and its members. The CFO of the company who received waiver benefits from the board had no contract with the board, did not own the building he used in conjunction with the benefits waiver and used a personal vehicle for work, all of which rendered him an independent contractor, not an employee. Reversed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Winkler, Filed On: January 12, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-83, Categories: immunity, defamation, Employment Retaliation
[Consolidated.] J. Cabranes finds that the district court properly held that Donald Trump waived presidential immunity by failing to raise such as an affirmative defense in answering E. Jean Carroll's defamation complaint stemming from an alleged sexual assault. Meanwhile, the court properly denied his request to amend the answer and properly struck the defense from his answer to her amended complaint. Additionally, the appeal from the finding of per se defamation concerning statements Trump made after Carroll alleged he raped her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Cabranes, Filed On: December 13, 2023, Case #: 23-1045-cv (L), Categories: Civil Procedure, immunity, defamation
J. Trauger grants the dismissal motions filed by the metro defendants and the district attorney defendants in this lawsuit brought by a property owner who allegedly experienced "flooding and erosion issues" and did not receive help from the water services department in mitigating the problem. The property owner's claims for malicious prosecution, libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress should all be dismissed against the metro defendants. Also, the district attorney defendants are "immune from suit on claims against them for actions taken in their role as advocates for the state."
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Trauger, Filed On: November 16, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv936, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: immunity, defamation, Emotional Distress
J. Lum finds the lower court erroneously determined several statements made by the accusers were covered by absolute immunity. Although they were made in connection with a Title IX investigation, the student accused of sexual assault was not granted a hearing or able to call and cross-examine witnesses, which rendered the proceedings legislative, not quasi-judicial, in nature. Furthermore, the lower court erroneously granted the anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss filed by the accusers and their mothers because the accused student's acquittal in a criminal trial and various inconsistencies in the accusers' stories would allow a reasonable jury to consider the emails sent after the criminal trial to be defamatory and sent with malice. Reversed in part.
Court: Colorado Court Of Appeals, Judge: Lum, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 2023COA87, Categories: Anti-slapp, immunity, defamation
J. Newman denies in part the hospital's motion to dismiss, ruling that it is not entitled to immunity on defamation claims brought by the doctor because both the false statements about the doctor's performance and the eventual editing of the employment report to cover up those false statements are fraudulent activities that abrogate immunity granted under the Health Care Quality Improvement Act. However, because the doctor failed to exhaust all administrative remedies under the Act prior to filing suit, the request for an injunction must be dismissed until he complies with exhaustion requirements.
Court: USDC Southern District of Ohio, Judge: Newman, Filed On: August 4, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv341, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Employment, immunity, defamation
J. Murphy finds the lower court improperly refused to grant immunity to the director of the port authority on conspiracy and defamation claims. The authority is under the control of Louisville Metro and performs an integral function of Kentucky's state government - specifically, transportation infrastructure; therefore, its director is entitled to governmental immunity. Reversed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Murphy, Filed On: July 27, 2023, Case #: 22-5351, Categories: Government, immunity, defamation
J. Christiansen Forster finds that the trial court erred in dismissing a county commissioner's defamation and invasion of privacy complaint against other commissioners and a county employee who accused him of sexual harassment. Sufficient facts supported the claims and governmental immunity does not shield individuals accused of willful misconduct. However, governmental immunity was properly applied to the dismissal of the same tort claims against the county. Reversed in part.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Christiansen Forster, Filed On: July 6, 2023, Case #: 20200296-CA, Categories: immunity, defamation, Privacy
J. Mullins finds the lower court erroneously dismissed the male student's defamation claim against Yale University and the female student who accused him of sexual assault. The proceeding that led to the male student's expulsion was not quasi-judicial in nature and, therefore, the female student was not entitled to absolute immunity. The female student was not under oath at the time of the hearing and could not be punished by the university because she had already graduated, while the male student was not permitted to cross-examine his accuser or even attend the hearing, which deprived him of procedural safeguards and prevented the application of immunity. Reversed.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: Mullins, Filed On: June 23, 2023, Case #: SC20705, Categories: Education, immunity, defamation
J. Ellis grants the prime minister of the Kurdistan autonomous region in Northern Iraq's motion to dismiss the defamation case due to sovereign immunity. The self-proclaimed Kurdish political advocate was accused of having an affair with an American journalist who reported on the PM hiding funds in real estate purchases after she and her husband helped share his article with the people in Kurdistan. The alleged defamation occurred in in Iraq and claims related to this event are barred by sovereign immunity.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Virginia, Judge: Ellis, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv1288, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: immunity, defamation