Shaw v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
818 F. Supp. 1539 (1993)
An RJR (defendant) employee told a single customer, Giantonio, that former sales rep Shaw (plaintiff) had been fired for allegedly stealing cigarettes, a statement made only to that customer with a longstanding professional relationship to Shaw and no further dissemination; Shaw, later acquitted of the criminal theft charge, sued for slander, and RJR moved for summary judgment based on qualified privilege.
Whether, in a defamation per se action, a defendant's claim of qualified privilege may be rebutted by a showing that the false statement was made with express or actual malice, namely ill will, hostility, evil intention to defame and injure or that the speaker's primary motive was to harm or injure the plaintiff.