Lowell v. Medford School District. 549c

Absolute privilege applies when the public’s interest in functioning government is so great that it outweighs an individual’s interest in redress for reputational harm. Shearer v.  Lambert, 274 Or 449, 547 P2d 98 (1976).

Plaintiff appealed from the granting of summary judgment for Defendant school district. Plaintiff argued that Shearer v.  Lambert, 274 Or 449, 547 P2d 98 (1976) extended the absolute privilege only to state “officers” and argued that the defendant’s employees did not fit that description. Defendant argued that the Court should adhere to the appeals court’s interpretation of Shearer that an employee of an executive agency has an absolute privilege to make defamatory statements in the exercise of official duties, even lower-level employees. The Court rejected the Defendant’s argument that all employees should receive absolute privilege. The Court reasoned that absolute privilege was to protect government officials when they spoke up in defense of the public welfare and extending the privilege to all government employees was beyond the intended scope. The Court held absolute privilege applies when the public’s interest in functioning government is so great that it outweighs an individual’s interest in redress for reputational harm. The decision of the Court of Appeals is reversed.  The judgment of the circuit court is reversed, and the case is remanded to the circuit court for further proceedings.