1. Information to and from the Employment Security Agency of the Georgia Department of Labor is the subject of absolute privilege in an action for defamation. Thus even if the memorandum in question were false and malicious its contents would not be actionable. Code § 54-642.1;
Brantley v. Heller,
2. Reports prepared by an immediate supervisor of a corporate employee evaluating her performance and intended for use by personnel employees within the corporation are conditionally privileged. There is no publication where the report is circulated only to those whose responsibility it would be to be cognizant of such facts.
LuAllen v. Home Mission Bd. of Southern Baptist Convention,
3. Proof of falsity and malice cannot destroy the defense of absolute privilege, but actual malice will remove a conditional privilege.
Atlanta News Pub. Co. v. Medlock,
4. An oral publication of a written defamation constitutes libel, not slander, and in such case the normal rules of respondeat superior would apply.
Garren v. Southland Corp.,
5. "To make the defense of privilege complete, in an action of slander or libel, good faith, an interest to be upheld, a statement properly limited in its scope, a proper occasion, and publication to proper persons must all appear. The absence of any one or more of these constituent elements will, as a general rule, prevent the
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party from relying on the privilege.”
Sheftall v. Central of Ga. R. Co.,
6. "As a general rule, a communication in respect of the character or qualifications of an employee or former employee may be made to any person who has a legitimate interest in the subject matter thereof, such as a prospective employer.” 50 AmJur2d 793, Libel and Slander, § 275.
7. Applying the foregoing law to the facts of this case, it appears that the grants of summary judgment to the defendant Delta Airlines Corp. and its traffic manager Scherer were proper. The plaintiff Land was a former temporary employee of Delta working under defendant Scherer. After her discharge she applied for employment with Eastern Airlines, Inc. and was refused. The affidavit of Owen, a ticket officer for a group of scheduled airlines, states that Eastern checked out the plaintiffs Delta reference, received an unfavorable report, and refused to hire her for this reason. This statement, also, appears to have been hearsay, but even taking it into account no actionable defamation is shown. Delta’s personnel file, to which the plaintiff was given access, showed only two documents which might be considered derogatory. The first, from the Employment Security Agency, was absolutely privileged. The second, a memorandum from Scherer to his superiors explaining his reasons for wanting the plaintiff replaced, was conditionally privileged and there is no slightest indication either that Scherer was motivated by malice or that there was publication beyond that approved by LuAllen, supra. The affidavit avers that there was no publication beyond the department.
The plaintiff presumably relies on an inference that the derogatory matter (none of which was libelous per se) which was in her personnel file was communicated to Eastern Airlines personnel by some person connected with Delta, acting within the scope of his authority. She alleges that it was false and that the communication was malicious. Malice to avoid qualified privilege must be actual and with evil intent.
Edmonds v. Atlanta Newspapers,
The plaintiffs evidence in opposition to defendant’s motion for summary judgment fails to create a jury issue.
Judgment affirmed.