Title: Jones v. Golden Spike Corp.

State: nevada

Issuer: Nevada Supreme Court

Document:

623 P.2d 970 (1981) Wally JONES, Appellant, v. GOLDEN SPIKE CORPORATION, a Nevada Corporation; and Charles Paul Leonard, Jr., Respondents. No. 11896. Supreme Court of Nevada. February 20, 1981. Rehearing Denied May 6, 1981. George W. Abbott, Minden, for appellant. Allison, Brunetti, MacKenzie & Taylor, Carson City, for respondents. JOSEPH O. McDANIEL, District Judge[1]: This appeal involves a slander action by an employee against his corporate employer. Appellant Wally Jones was employed as the head bartender by respondent Golden Spike Corporation, a Nevada corporation, which owns and operates the Golden Spike Casino in Carson City, Nevada. On September 22, 1977, the president of Golden Spike, Charles Paul Leonard, Jr., had received a surveillance report on the performance of the bartenders in the bar at the casino. He reviewed the report with Golden Spike's general manager, Richard Bennett. At 5:30 p.m. that day, appellant and four other bartenders were summoned to Leonard's private office in the casino. Each was given a typewritten copy of the report to read. A discussion was then held, during which appellant alleges that Leonard *971 stated to the group, "You are all nogood, ____, ____, thieves." Appellant filed his complaint alleging slander and damages. Respondents answered and then filed a motion for summary judgment on the grounds that, assuming that a defamatory statement had been made as alleged, there had been no publication. The trial court granted the motion on that ground and entered judgment for respondents, and this appeal followed. To be actionable, there must be a publication of the defamatory statement. This concept is explained in Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. v. Paul, 256 Md. 643, 261 A.2d 731, 734-735 (App. 1970): Appellant first contends that since the general manager was present, there was a publication. Jurisdictions that have followed the Restatement of Torts have taken that position. We choose to follow the majority rule as set forth in Prins v. Holland-North American Mortgage Co., 107 Wash. 206, 181 P. 680 (1919): In Mims v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 200 F.2d 800 (5th Cir.1952) the court added: This rule of law as to defamatory communications between officers, agents and employees of a corporation is hereby adopted as the law of the State of Nevada. Accord, Western Union Tel. Co. v. Lesesne, 198 F.2d 154 (4th Cir.1952); United States Steel Corp. v. Darby, 516 F.2d 961 (5th Cir.1975); Keddie v. Pennsylvania State University, 412 F. Supp. 1264 (M.D.Pa. 1976); Burney v. Southern Railway Company, 276 Ala. 637, 165 So. 2d 726 (1964); McDaniel v. Crescent Motors, Inc., 249 Ala. 330, 31 So. 2d 343 (1947); Lu Allen v. Home Mission Board, 125 Ga. App. 456, 188 S.E.2d 138 (1972); McKenna v. Mansfield Leland Hotel Co., 55 Ohio App. 163, 9 N.E.2d 166 (1936); Magnolia Petroleum Co. v. Davidson, 194 Okl. 115, 148 P.2d 468 (1944). Appellant also contends there was a publication as to the other four bartenders. We disagree. All five individuals were addressed as a group and the defamatory statement made to them as such. In Pate v. Tyee Motor Inn, 77 Wash. 2d 819, 467 P.2d 301, 302 (1970), the court stated: "Tort liability for slander requires that the defamation be communicated to someone other than the person or persons defamed." (Emphasis added.) Accord, Campbell v. Jacksonville Kennel Club, 66 So. 2d 495 (Fla. 1953); Starnes v. St. Joseph Railway, Light, Heat & Power Co., 331 Mo. 44, 52 S.W.2d 852 (1932); Harbison v. Chicago, R.I. & P. Ry. Co., 327 Mo. 440, 37 S.W.2d 609 (1931); Bull v. Collins, 54 S.W.2d 870 (Tex.Civ.App. 1932). Therefore, there was no publication as to the other parties who were defamed. The order granting summary judgment and judgment is affirmed. GUNDERSON, C.J., and MANOUKIAN, BATJER and MOWBRAY, JJ., concur. [1] The Governor designated the Hon. Joseph O. McDaniel, Judge of the Fourth Judicial District Court, to sit in the place of the Honorable Gordon Thompson, Justice. Nev.Const., art. 6, § 4.