Monday, February 16, 2009

New Ruling, Truth May Not Be a Defense

From Gordon Firemark's Entertainment Law Blog comes  post regarding a First Circuit Ruling, finding Staples liable for distribution of an email regarding a terminated employee that was true!
I haven't seen the decision, but I trust Gordon't redention of the facts. It seems that the First Circuit has toss out 40 years of jurisprudence, and now it is possible to be sued for making a true statement, if you do it with "actual malice."

In this case, the defendants sent out a company wide email saying that the plaintiff was fired for falsifying travel expense reports.

Very odd, and a precedent for making everyone who blogs, writes a newsletter or posts on the web a potential defamation defendant.