- Court: Oregon Court of Appeals
- Area(s) of Law: Tort Law
- Date Filed: 10-06-2021
- Case #: A173044
- Judge(s)/Court Below: Armstrong, P.J. for the Court; Tookey, J.; & Aoyagi, J.
- Full Text Opinion
Mouktabis appealed a judgment in favor of M.A. on Mouktabis’ claims for defamation, false light, and IIED. Mouktabis argued that the trial court erred by granting summary judgment in favor of M.A., and that M.A. made defamatory statements that were unprivileged because they were made outside of a judicial proceeding. Statements made as part of a judicial proceeding are absolutely privileged, meaning that they cannot form the basis for a defamation claim. Chard v. Galton, 277 Or 109, 112, 559 P2d 1980 (1977). The Court held that while M.A. made defamatory statements about Mouktabis to individuals involved in the former judicial proceeding, M.A. did not make those statements as part of the proceeding itself and those statements were therefore unprivileged. Reversed and remanded.