United States Ninth Circuit

In an action brought against AT&T and one of its employees alleging that the employee defamed plaintiffs in the course of her employment, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) plaintiffs-officers could not proceed in their claim as individuals because they offered no evidence that any recipient of the employee's e-mails understood the e-mails to refer to them as distinct from their corporation; but 2) plaintiff-corporation could proceed with its claim because, although the common interest privilege potentially applies, it does not bar the action as a matter of law because genuine issues of fact remained as to whether malice was the employee's primary reason to include the alleged defamation in her e-mails, and whether she lacked a good faith belief in the truth of her statement.

Appellate Information

• Argued 02/12/2008
• Decided 04/11/2008
• Published 04/11/2008

Judges

• Before:  WILLIAM C. CANBY, JR., DAVID R. THOMPSON, and MILAN D. SMITH, JR., Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Paul Kleven, Berkeley, CA, for the plaintiffs-appellants.


• For Appellees:
  
• Kevin M. Fong, Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw, Pittman, LLP, San Francisco, CA, for the defendants-appellees.