United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

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No. 02-3745

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Duane Dewey Anderson, *

*

Plaintiff-Appellant, *

*

v. *

*

Independent School District, also *

known as Moose Lake Community *

Schools, Number 97; Nancy E. Kaldor, * Appeal from the United States

in her individual capacity and her * District Court for the

official capacities as Superintendent * District of Minnesota.

and Responsible Authority of *

Independent School District * AMENDED OPINION

Number 97; *

*

Defendants-Appellees, *

*

Art Forse, in his individual capacity, *

*

Defendant. *

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Submitted: November 21, 2003

Filed: February 6, 2004

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Before MURPHY, LAY, and BRIGHT, Circuit Judges.

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LAY, Circuit Judge.
1

The Honorable John R. Tunheim, United States District Judge for the District

of Minnesota.

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Duane Anderson brought suit against Independent School District Number 97,

its Superintendent Nancy Kaldor, and Transportation Supervisor Art Forse

(collectively, the “School District”) asserting several claims, including defamation

and a violation of the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (“MGDPA”).

Anderson alleged that School District employees made defamatory statements and

other unlawful disclosures regarding a drug test that he was required to take in April

of 1998. The district court1

 partially granted the School District’s judgment as a

matter of law at the close of evidence, dismissing Anderson’s defamation claim, but

allowed the MGDPA claim to be submitted to the jury. Following a jury verdict in

Anderson’s favor, the district court granted the School District’s renewed motion for

judgment as a matter of law, holding that there was insufficient evidence to support

the jury’s verdict. Anderson now appeals, and we affirm. 

BACKGROUND

On April 23, 1998, Anderson, a bus driver for the School District, was

randomly selected to undergo a drug test. Under the federal regulations that govern

such drug tests, Anderson was required to provide a urine sample of at least forty-five

milliliters. See 49 C.F.R. § 40.25(f)(10) (1997). He testified at trial that he provided

more than the required amount. However, Kyle Neumann, who was conducting the

test, testified that Anderson provided an insufficient sample. The sample was

subsequently tested, and found to be negative for all controlled substances.

Nonetheless, on May 13, 1998, Superintendent Nancy Kaldor informed Anderson by

letter that he was suspended, explaining that the federal regulations prohibit an

employee from driving a commercial vehicle if the employee refuses to submit to a

required test. See 49 C.F.R. § 382.211 (1997). An inadequate sample is treated under
2

Anderson argues on petition for panel rehearing that our previous citations to

the 2002 regulations were erroneous because they were not in effect at the time

Anderson took his drug test in April of 1998. We agree, and have amended our

opinion to include citations to the 1997 regulations Anderson sets out in his petition,

which cover the period from October of 1997 to October of 1998. We do not find,

however, that the correction of these citation errors affects our holding in the case,

as the 1997 regulations are identical in substance to the 2002 regulations in all

respects relevant to this opinion.

3

Anderson also asserted violations of the American with Disabilities Act, 42

U.S.C. §§ 12101 et seq., the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. §§ 701 et seq., the

Minnesota Human Rights Act, Minn. Stat. §§ 363.03(2)(c) and 363.03, subd. 6, and

The Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act, 49 U.S.C. § 31306 et seq., as

protected by 42 U.S.C. § 1983. However, we focus only on the MGDPA and

defamation claims that are the subject of Anderson’s appeal.

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the regulations as a refusal to test. See 49 C.F.R. § 40.25(f)(10)(iv)(A) (1997).2

 .

Kaldor directed Anderson to obtain an assessment by a substance abuse professional

and to submit another sample for testing. Anderson did not submit another sample.

Anderson filed suit against the School District in federal district court for the

District of Minnesota. He claimed that the School District had defamed him by

making untruthful statements about him to a third party to the effect that he had failed

the drug test or refused to take it. He also claimed that the School District had

violated the MGDPA, Minn. Stat. §§ 13.01-13.99, by wrongfully disclosing

information in his personnel file to the effect that he had refused to take the drug test.3

The case was tried before a jury in November of 2001. At the close of all the

evidence, but prior to submission of the case to the jury, the School District moved

for judgment as a matter of law on all claims. The district court granted the motion

as to many of Anderson’s claims, including his defamation claim, but denied it as to

Anderson’s claim of wrongful disclosure of government data under the MGDPA.

The district court held that Anderson had submitted evidence of a MGDPA violation
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that was “sufficiently clear that it present[ed] a factual issue for the jury to resolve.”

Jeffery Kirk, the former Transportation Supervisor, testified that Art Forse, the

current Transportation Supervisor, had told him that Anderson “refused to take a drug

test.” Forse denied having made this statement to Kirk. The district court found that

the issue should go to the jury because that statement, if made, could be considered

a wrongful disclosure of information from Anderson’s personnel file under the

MGDPA.

The jury returned a verdict for Anderson, finding that the School District

violated the MGDPA and that such violation was a direct cause of injury to Anderson.

The jury awarded $108,000 in pain and suffering and loss of reputation damages, $67

for hospital expenses, $10,000 for loss of earnings up to the date of the verdict,

$2,000 for future medical expenses, and $100 in exemplary damages. The School

District then renewed its motion for judgment as a matter of law, which the district

court granted, finding that the evidence was insufficient to support the causation and

damage elements of Anderson’s MGDPA claim. Anderson now appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review a district court’s grant of judgment as a matter of law de novo,

applying the same standard as the district court. See Garcia v. City of Trenton, 348

F.3d 726, 727 (8th Cir. 2003). Judgment as a matter of law is appropriate when a

party fails to establish a “legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to

find for that party.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a). Judgment as a matter of law is not proper

unless “all the evidence points one way and is susceptible of no reasonable inferences

sustaining the position of the non-moving party.” Moran v. Clarke, 296 F.3d 638,

643 (8th Cir. 2002) (quotations and citations omitted). Under such review, we do not

weigh the evidence or make credibility determinations, but draw all factual inferences

in favor of the non-moving party. See Garcia, 348 F.3d at 727.
4

To establish a prima facie case of defamation under Minnesota law, a plaintiff

must prove that the alleged defamatory statement: 1) was false, 2) was communicated

to someone besides the plaintiff, and 3) tended to harm the plaintiff’s reputation and

lower him in the estimation of the community. See, e.g., Stuempges v. Parke, Davis

& Co., 297 N.W.2d 252, 255 (Minn. 1980). 

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ANALYSIS

Defamation Claim

Anderson claims that the School District defamed him by making the following

untruthful statements about him to a third party: 1) that he refused to provide an

adequate urine sample; 2) that he refused to take a drug test; 3) that he tested positive

on the drug test; 4) that he was a drug user; and 5) that he failed the drug test. The

district court held that Anderson had not provided sufficient evidence to support his

defamation claim regarding any of these alleged statements.4

 We agree. Judgment

as a matter of law was appropriate because, for each of the above statements,

Anderson “failed to meet [his] burden as to an essential element of the cause of

action.” Harris v. Pirch, 677 F.2d 681, 683 (8th Cir. 1982).

Regarding the first alleged statement, it could not be defamatory because none

of the Defendants ever published the statement to a third party. The statement was

made in the May 13, 1998, suspension letter from Kaldor, who testified that the letter

was sent directly to Anderson and that she did not disclose Anderson’s drug test

results to anyone else. Also, the evidence at trial showed that Anderson had “selfpublished” the letter, and that he was therefore responsible for any harm to his

reputation. Anderson argues on appeal that based upon Kuechle v. Life’s Companion

P.C.A., Inc., 653 N.W.2d 214 (Minn. Ct. App. 2002), the School District can be liable

for the defamatory statement contained in the suspension letter, even though it was

self-published by Anderson. Id. at 219-20. However, in Kuechle, the court held that

self-publication can constitute valid publication to a third party only under certain

limited circumstances: 
5

Despite Anderson’s strenuous objections in his petition for panel rehearing,

we agree with the district court’s reading of this federal regulation, “that a failure to

provide an adequate urine sample is treated as a ‘refusal to test.’”

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Generally, where a defendant communicates a statement to a plaintiff,

who then communicates it to a third party, there is no publication. The

publication element can be met, however, if the plaintiff is compelled to

publish the defamatory statement to a third person and if it was

foreseeable to the defendant that the plaintiff would be so compelled.

Id. at 219 (citation omitted). The evidence shows that Anderson voluntarily showed

Kaldor’s letter to many people in the community, not because he was compelled to

do so, but simply to explain the injustice he felt had been done to him. 

Regarding the second alleged statement, while there was testimony that the

statement had been made, the statement was true and therefore cannot be defamatory.

Kirk testified that Forse had told him that Anderson “refused to take the drug test.”

As the district court determined, however, “Forse’s statement that plaintiff ‘refused

to take a drug test’ [was] an accurate statement based on the federal regulations.” See

49 C.F.R. § 40.25(f)(10)(iv)(A) (1997).5 Anderson asserts on appeal that, contrary

to what the district court held, the statement was not accurate because Anderson

testified at trial that he provided an adequate sample. Regardless of what Anderson

said he did, however, the test administrator determined that he did not provide an

adequate sample. Anderson was therefore considered to have refused to take the test

under the regulations. Forse’s statement that Anderson refused to take the drug test

was therefore true in light of the test administrator’s determination. 

Regarding the third and fourth alleged defamatory statements above, we hold,

as did the district court, that there was no evidence in the record that an employee of
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the School District told anyone that “plaintiff tested positive on the drug test” or “that

plaintiff was a drug user.” 

Finally, regarding the fifth alleged statement, the only evidence to support that

any School District employee made the statement was, in the words of the district

court, “extremely weak.” The person who claimed to have overheard the statement

could not conclusively identify who actually made the statement. We hold that the

evidence of an overheard conversation in which the speaker could not even be

identified was not a legally sufficient basis for a reasonable jury to find defamation

against the School District. See French v. Eagle Nursing Home, Inc., 973 F. Supp.

870, 883-84 (D. Minn. 1997) (holding that, under Minnesota law, “the plaintiff must

identify who made the defamatory statement”).

MGDPA Claim

The only claim submitted to the jury was Anderson’s MGDPA claim, asserting

that an employee of the School District had unlawfully disclosed confidential

information regarding the results of Anderson’s drug test in violation of Minn. Stat.

§ 13.05, subd. 4. That statute provides in relevant part:

Private or confidential data on an individual shall not be collected,

stored, used, or disseminated by political subdivisions, statewide

systems, or state agencies for any purposes other than those stated to the

individual at the time of collection . . . . 
6

Violations of this provision provide an action for damages under Minn. Stat.

§ 13.08, subd. 1, which provides in relevant part:

a political subdivision, responsible authority, statewide system, or state

agency which violates any provision of this chapter is liable to a person

. . . who suffers any damage as a result of the violation, and the person

damaged . . . may bring an action . . . to cover any damages sustained,

plus costs and reasonable attorney fees. In the case of a willful

violation, the political subdivision, statewide system or state agency

shall, in addition, be liable to exemplary damages of not less than $100,

nor more than $10,000 for each violation.

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Minn. Stat. § 13.05, subd. 4.6

 In order to prevail on a claim under the MGDPA, the

plaintiff must prove not only a violation of the statute, but that the plaintiff has

sustained damage, and the damage was a direct result of the unlawful disclosure. See

Navarre v. S. Washington County Sch., 633 N.W.2d 40, 53-54 (Minn. Ct. App. 2001),

rev’d in part on other grounds, 652 N.W.2d 9 (Minn. 2002); M.P. ex rel. K., D.P. v.

Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 721, 200 F. Supp. 2d 1036, 1044 (D. Minn. 2002).

The district court acknowledged, both at the close of evidence and after the

jury’s verdict, that Forse’s statement to Kirk that Anderson “refused to take the drug

test” constituted sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to determine that there had

been an unlawful disclosure under the MGDPA. In its September 25, 2002,

Memorandum Opinion and Order, however, the district court held that “[a]fter having

closely reviewed the record in this case and giving plaintiff the benefit of all

reasonable inferences, there is insufficient evidence to support the causation and

damage elements of plaintiff’s MGDPA claim.” Although Anderson presented

testimony of financial losses after Forse’s statement, the district court determined that

“there is no evidence in the record connecting those losses to Forse’s statement.”

Anderson has not demonstrated on appeal that there was any evidence of

causation between unlawful School District statements and any loss of reputation or
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other financial damages. Furthermore, our own independent review of the record has

uncovered no such evidence. Instead, the record supports the district court’s

conclusion.

First, regarding loss of reputation, although the jury believed that Forse had

told Kirk that Anderson “refused to take the drug test,” there was no evidence that

Kirk repeated the statement to others. Also, the evidence reveals that, to the extent

the information leaked out to the community, Anderson himself was to blame.

Indeed, Anderson testified that he told a number of people why he was suspended,

and showed them the suspension letter from Kaldor that contained the statement that

Anderson refused to submit to testing. One of these people subsequently wrote a

letter to the editor in the local newspaper that, while on Anderson’s behalf,

nevertheless stated that Anderson had been suspended due to his refusal to provide

an adequate test. Therefore, since the “buzz around town” was generated by

Anderson himself, no additional loss of reputation harm could have resulted from

Forse’s statement to Kirk. See Achman v. Chisago Lakes Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 2144,

45 F. Supp. 2d 664, 669 (D. Minn. 1999).

Second, regarding Anderson’s evidence of actual financial damages of the loss

of his farm, cattle, and equipment, the above reasoning applies equally to these

damages. Moreover, the evidence showed that the farm had not been profitable for

many years and that Anderson was forced to make these sales, not because of any

unlawful statements by the School District, but because of a loan coming due that

could not be extended.

Third, regarding the $10,000 awarded for lost earnings, the evidence shows

that Anderson was paid for the days he was suspended, and that the School District

offered to reinstate him, but he did not return to work for the School District.
7

Also, because we are affirming the district court’s vacation of the MGDPA

judgment, Anderson is not entitled to attorney fees under Minn. Stat. § 13.08, which

he has requested on appeal.

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Finally, regarding the $2,000 awarded for future medical expenses, Anderson

presented no evidence of continuing medical treatment and therefore the jury’s future

medical expenses award fails as a matter of law. See Krutsch v. Walter H. Collin

GmBh Verfahrenstechnik Und Maschinenfabric, 495 N.W.2d 208, 213 (Minn. Ct.

App. 1993).

On appeal, Anderson argues that the district court’s holding is “at direct odds

with the evidence adduced at trial, and relied upon by the jury.” In his brief, he

proceeds to cite, in twenty-two numbered paragraphs, evidence that he believes

supports the jury’s verdict. This evidence, however, while supporting the general

proposition that people in town were talking about Anderson and the drug test, does

not show causation between any unlawful statements by the School District and any

actual or loss of reputation damages to Anderson. Furthermore, Anderson does not

rebut the district court’s conclusion that Kirk never repeated Forse’s statement to any

one else, or contest the district court’s conclusion that Anderson himself is primarily

responsible for generating the “buzz” regarding his drug test. Therefore, since

Anderson can show us no evidence to support the jury’s verdict, and we can find

none, we affirm the decision of the district court.7

CONCLUSION

For the reasons set forth above, the judgment of the district court is

AFFIRMED.

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