Leo has been the unsuccessful suitor of Abbie, who has recently announced her en

Question

Leo has been the unsuccessful suitor of Abbie, who has recently announced her engagement to Daniel. Angered by her engagement, Leo sent Abbie the following letter: “I hope you know what you are doing. The man you think you love is seeing another woman. Sincerely, Your Friend” The receipt of this letter caused Abbie great emotional distress. She hysterically telephoned Daniel, read him the letter, and told him that she was breaking off their engagement. The contents of the letter were not revealed to others. Daniel, who is a young and rising associate attorney at the firm of RipYouOff, LLC, suffered serious humiliation and emotional distress as a result of the broken engagement. Within a short period of time he developed migraines and an ulcer. He was unable to continue working on a full-time basis and had to take an unpaid leave of absence.

If Daniel asserts a civil claim against Leo for defamation, and it is proven that Leo’s statement was true, will Daniel be successful (win)? In answering this question, you will need to discuss the elements of defamation and match these elements with the facts you’ve been given. Likewise, you will also need to discuss whether the truth of Leo’s statement will have an impact on the outcome in civil court. Discuss other claims Daniel my assert against Leo, if any. And also the likelihood of success and possible damages he may recover.

Explanation / Answer

Daniel cannot win the claim against Leo for defamation when the defaming statement is proved to be true. In order to prove the defamation claim the defaming statement should include the elements of published, false, injurious and unprivileged. Published means a third party has heard or saw the statement. Third party is the person other than who made the statement and about whom it is made. As the statement was made to Abbie, who broke the engagement, the element of published is satisfied here. Next element is false and Daniel need to prove that defamatory sentence was false. But Leo’s statement is proved to be true and the statement cannot be considered as defamatory when the statement is true. Another element is injurious which require Daniel to show the defamation has affected his reputation. Injurious elements can be proved as Daniel has undergone humiliation and emotional distress as a result of the broken engagement. The next element is unprivileged and Daniel needs to prove that Leo is not privileged to make such defaming sentence. There are some exceptions which provide privilege for defamation and it includes a statement that is made for the protection of interests of a third person. Leo had made the statement to protect Abby’s interest and protect her from marrying a person who is in relationship with another woman. Hence Leo is privileged to make the sentence which is the most important element that can defend Daniel’s claims. Hence Daniel cannot win the defamation claim against Leo based on not proving the elements of false and unprivileged.

Other claims Daniel can assert against Leo includes the injuries he suffered in the form of health issues that arouse from the humiliation including migraines and ulcer. Another claim can be the effect of the same on his work which did not allow him to continue working on a full-time basis and had to take an unpaid leave of absence. But since the statement is true, Daniel will not be able to succeed and recover the damages as Leo has the freedom of speech provided by the first amendment which allows him to speak truth without fear of any legal actions.

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