Lowell v. Wright

The First Amendment public comment defense applies when the speech involves a public concern and can be examined using a true-false analysis. Neumann v. Liles, 358 Or 706, 714 (2016).

The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment for Defendant. Plaintiff filed suit after Defendant, a manager at a competing business, wrote a negative review containing alleged falsities about Plaintiff’s business. Plaintiff argues that the identity of the speaker and their motive can affect whether speech is a public concern and eligible for the public comment defense. Defendant argued that the speaker’s identity and motive are not relevant to the determination and that all reviews, regardless of the speaker’s identity or motive, are public concerns. The First Amendment public comment defense applies when the speech involves a public concern and can be examined using a true-false analysis. Neumann v. Liles, 358 Or 706, 714 (2016). The Court reasoned that adding motive to the inquiry into “content, form, and context” would result in a First Amendment issue where the same speech delivered the same way could result in different outcomes. Further, the Court reasoned that after looking at the “content, form, and context” of the speech, the speech here was a matter of public concern and therefore Defendant can use the defense. The decision of the Court of Appeals is affirmed in part and reversed in part.  The judgment of the circuit court is reversed, and the case is remanded to the circuit court for further proceedings.