Case Name: Sue FORD, Appellant, v. Charles ROWLAND, et al., Appellees
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1990-05-03
Citations: 562 So. 2d 731
Docket Number: Nos. 88-1608, 89-102
Parties: Sue FORD, Appellant, v. Charles ROWLAND, et al., Appellees.
Judges: W. SHARP, J., concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 562
Pages: 731–739

Head Matter:
Sue FORD, Appellant, v. Charles ROWLAND, et al., Appellees.
Nos. 88-1608, 89-102.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.
May 3, 1990.
Rehearing Denied June 20, 1990.
Scott D. Sheftall and Robert C. Levine of Floyd, Pearson, Richman, Greer, Weil, Zack & Brumbaugh, P.A., Miami, for appellant.
Sylvia K. Drusa and Linda S. Bols of Fisher, Rushmer, Werrenrath, Keiner, Wack & Dickson, P.A., Orlando and Tom G. Burrows of Raymond, Wilson, Burrows & Jester, P.A., Merritt Island, co-counsel for appellee Charles Rowland. •
G.B. Mevay Voght and Kary B. Reed of Hannah, Marsee, Beik & Voght, P.A., Orlando, for appellee Canaveral Port Authority.
Robert D. Gatton and M. Susan Sacco of Broad and Cassel, Maitland, for appellees Wesley Houser and Charlotte Houser.
Patricia K. Olney of Spielvogel and Goldman, P.A., Merritt Island, for appellee Cocoa Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.
Stanley Wolf man of Wolf man & Greenfield, P.A., Merritt Island, for appellee Kenneth Karpinski.
Dwight W. Severs of Holland, Starling & Severs, P.A., Titusville, for appellee Thomas Newbern.

Opinion:
COBB, Judge.
The appellant, Sue Ford, an incumbent Port Commissioner of the Canaveral Port Authority, was the plaintiff below in an action against multiple defendants for libel, conspiracy to defame, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The action concerned a poem written by a former Deputy Director of the Port Authority, Ken Kar-pinski. After circulation of the poem at a Cocoa Beach Area Chamber of Commerce social function on September 3, 1986, Ford sued Karpinski and the Port Authority (Port), as well as the Chamber of Commerce, Tom Newbern (Port Commissioner), Charles Rowland (Port Director), Wes Houser (formér Port Commissioner), and the latter's wife, Charlotte Houser.
The poem apparently was written and circulated after a contested election.for two seats on the Port Authority. Diana Greer and Bill Wenz were unsuccessful candidates for those seats. They were supported in the election by Ford, Tom Dolan (a friend of Greer), and the East Merritt Island Homeowners Association, whose president was Carol Hayes. The winning candidates in the election were Malcolm McLouth and Newbern. The poem read:
"AN ODE TO ELECTION NIGHT"
Was the night of elections, the votes being counted'
The air was electric, the tension mounted.
On East Merritt Island, that land of limbo,
Sat Suzie Commissioner, all dressed as a bimbo.
The table was set with great preparation To celebrate their victory of Port condemnation.
Off in a corner in ill-fitting clothes,
Sat Diane and Tom stuffing crack up their nose.
They babbled of victory, consumed by desire;
While their brains left their bodies floating higher & higher.
Directing the party was the witch Carol Hayes,
Whose face was so wrinkled, it looked like a maze.
The mad witch of the East (Old Carol was called)
Since the crazy she led and the stupid enthralled.
I'll ruin the Port and the people I'll snooker,
Using lies and deceit — a junkie and a hooker.
"These ladies are experts, as commissioners they'd be stars, 'cause they've handled many lines while working in bars".
"But their past is forgotten — not to be resurrected,
To the Public they're virtuous and should be elected".
"Now on to my task to create a frenzy— Of outrageous support for Diane and Wenzy".
"I've created a machine that cried "fraud and pollutants",
And place at the controls all EMIHOA mutants".
Then the votes started, and their numbers were rollin'
From the souls that were purchased by the coke lord,
Tom Dolan.
On Titusville and Cocoa and East Merritt Island
They all have been fooled — that's the reason I'm smilin'.
Then from the TV there arose such a clatter,
Carol flew on her broom to see what's the matter.
"This cannot be!" she shrieked her concern,
"The numbers are not the expected return".
"For the voters had chosen old Tommy and Mac,
Instead of the goofball and Tom's Lady Crack".
Carol was livid and showing her loathing, No chance for power and for Sue, no new clothing.
It just goes to prove when you're guided by witches,
Voters chose good guys, not Bimbos and Bitches.
—Anonymous
The trial court entered a summary judgment for the Port Authority on the basis of sovereign immunity, and that is the issue in Appellate Case Number 88-1608. Thereafter, Ford filed a third amended complaint against the remaining defendants, alleging that the poem was authored by Karpinski and that Rowland, Newbern, and Karpinski caused it to be dispensed from the offices of the Port Authority. Various defendants were charged with disseminating the poem at the Chamber of Commerce's "Wednesday-Friendsday" gathering on September 3, 1986. Additionally, Ford also alleged that the Chamber, through its agents, retyped the poem and added the title "An Ode to Election Night." All the defendants were alleged to have acted with bad faith, malicious purpose, recklessly, and/or negligently. The trial court dismissed the third amended complaint with prejudice, giving rise to Appellate Case Number 89-102. The two appeals have been consolidated.
We have no problem in affirming the summary judgment for the Port Authority in Case Number 88-1608. The only allegations against the Port related to libel. It was alleged that the Port, through the reckless and/or negligent acts of its employees, "negligently allowed the poem to be dispensed from its offices" to various individuals.
The Port argues that Ford, as a public figure, was required to show that publication of the poem was done with actual malice — i.e., that the employees of the Port Authority published the libel (the poem) knowing it was false or with reckless disregard for its truth or falsity. See New York Times Company v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 84 S.Ct. 710, 11 L.Ed.2d 686 (1964). See also Times Publishing Company v. Huffstetler, 409 So.2d 112 (Fla. 5th DCA), review denied, 417 So.2d 329 (Fla.1982). But, pursuant to section 768.28, Florida Statutes (1985), the Port Authority has sovereign immunity for actions of employees done in bad faith, with malicious purpose, or in willful and wanton disregard of another's rights. Bad faith has been equated with the actual malice standard. St. Amant v. Thompson, 390 U.S. 727, 732-733, 88 S.Ct. 1323, 1326-27, 20 L.Ed.2d 262 (1968). In other words, the plaintiff, as a public figure, cannot establish liability without simultaneously establishing the tort immunity of the Port Authority. Mere negligent publication of such libel, relied upon by plaintiff in an attempt to circumvent the statutory immunity, is not sufficient in actions involving a public, as opposed to a private, figure. Cf. Miami Herald Publishing Company v. Ane, 458 So.2d 239 (Fla.1984). It is undisputed that Sue Ford, as an elected official, is a public figure. Accordingly, the summary judgment for the Port Authority in Case Number 88-1608 must be affirmed.
In Appellate Case Number 89-102, the dismissal with prejudice of the complaint against the defendants other than the Port Authority does not involve sovereign immunity. The appellant contends, and we agree, that if an allegedly defamatory publication is reasonably susceptible of two meanings, one of which is defamatory and one of which is not, it is for the trier of fact to determine the meaning understood by the average reader. See Perry v. Cosgrove, 464 So.2d 664 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985); Miami Herald Publishing Company v. Ane, 423 So.2d 376, 389 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982), approved, 458 So.2d 239 (Fla.1984); see also, Belli v. Orlando Daily Newspapers, Inc., 389 F.2d 579 (5th Cir.1967), cert. denied, 393 U.S. 825, 89 S.Ct. 88, 21 L.Ed.2d 96 (1968).
It is readily apparent that the "Suzy Commissioner" in the poem refers to Sue Ford; moreover, the poem reasonably can be read, although not necessarily so, as referring to Ford as a "hooker." Another reading would be that the terms "junkie" and "hooker" in the eighth stanza refer to Tom Dolan and Diana Greer, respectively. Statements which impute unchastity on the part of a woman plaintiff are libelous per se. See Campbell v. Jacksonville Kennel Club, 66 So.2d 495, 497 (Fla.1953). The term "hooker," without dispute, refers to a prostitute. Thus, if the finder of fact determined that the term "hooker" factually referred to Ford, libel per se would be established — unless the poem could not reasonably be read as describing an actual fact about Sue Ford or an actual event in which she participated. See, e.g., Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, 485 U.S. 46, 108 S.Ct. 876, 99 L.Ed.2d 41 (1988); Dworkin v. Hustler Magazine, Inc., 668 F.Supp. 1408 (C.D.Cal.1987), aff'd, 867 F.2d 1188 (9th Cir.1989). As stated in Dworkin, a defamatory publication must "convey to a reasonable reader the impression that . [it] describe[s] actual facts about the plaintiff or activities which she participated in to be actionable."
If a publication reasonably asserts a factual charge which is defamatory, even in a humorous or satirical vein, we are unaware of any first amendment protection. As conceded by the appellant, it is initially the function of the trial court to determine whether a publication is an obvious expression of humor or, on the other hand, is susceptible of being read as an assertion of defamatory fact. In making this assessment, the court must consider the context in which the statement was published, the medium by which it was disseminated, and the recipient audience. See Information Control Corp. v. Genesis One Computer Corp., 611 F.2d 781 (9th Cir.1980). Some statements are so obviously comedic and nonsensical that no sensible person would take them seriously. See, e.g., Polygram Records, Inc. v. Superior Court (Rege), 170 Cal.App.3d 543, 216 Cal.Rptr. 252 (1985); Frank v. National Broadcasting Co., Inc., 119 A.D.2d 252, 506 N.Y.S.2d 869 (1986). Other statements are more questionable, and require submission to the trier of fact rather than resolution by the court as a matter of law. See, e.g., Perry, supra; Wolfson v. Kirk, 273 So.2d 774 (Fla. 4th DCA), cert. denied, 279 So.2d 32 (Fla.1973). In the Falwell case the question of whether a suggestion that Reverend Falwell engaged in a sexual act in an outhouse with his mother could be understood as describing an actual fact, or was merely an absurd parody, was submitted for a jury determination by the trial court. See also, Harwood v. Bush, 223 So.2d 359 (Fla. 4th DCA 1969).
In the instant case it can be said, as a matter of law, that witches on broomsticks are fiction and fantasy; but "hookers" are real. Basic factual disputes are raised by the dismissed complaint: Does the word "hooker" refer to Sue Ford? If so, can that term reasonably be understood to describe an actual fact about, or conduct of, Sue Ford? Or, on the other hand, is the poem complete fantasy and hyperbole which cannot be taken literally in regard to the accusation that Sue Ford is — or once was — a "hooker?"
Accordingly, we reverse the dismissal of the libel and conspiracy counts of the Third Amended Complaint against the defendants named therein. We affirm the dismissal of the count which attempts to allege intentional infliction of emotional distress because the allegations therein do not set forth an independent tort, nor do they posit a factual situation rising to the level of "outrage."
The judgment in Case Number 88-1608 is AFFIRMED; the judgment in Case Number 89-102 is AFFIRMED in part and REVERSED in part; and the latter case is REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
W. SHARP, J., concurs.
GRIFFIN, J., dissents with opinion.
.The 1988 edition of Webster's New World Dictionary of American English identifies "hooker" as slang derived from the term given to residents of Corlear's Hook area in New York City, known for the large number of brothels frequented by sailors. See also A Dictionary of Americanisms on Historical Principles (M. Matthews, 1st ed. 1951).
. Conspiracy is not a separate or independent tort but is a vehicle for imputing the tortious acts of one coconspirator to another to establish joint and several liability. See Nicholson v. Kellin, 481 So.2d 931 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985).
. See Boyles v. Mid-Florida Television Corporation, 431 So.2d 627 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983), aff'd, 467 So.2d 282 (Fla.1985). See abo M.M. v. M.P.S., 556 So.2d 1140 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989).
. See Food Fair, Inc. v. Anderson, 382 So.2d 150 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980).