Opinion ID: 1984671
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Defendant Menario.

Text: Menario allegedly libeled Tucci when the Menario memo appeared in the newspapers. Tucci has not presented any evidence nor made any claim that events occurring after Menario originally wrote the memo could have caused Menario to entertain serious doubts as to the truthfulness of the statements in the Menario memo. Therefore, we must focus on the circumstances surrounding the drafting of the memo in 1970 to determine whether a jury could find that Menario published the memo with actual malice. At his deposition, Menario had little recollection of the events occurring in 1970 apart from what was written in the Menario memo. The Menario memo in conjunction with Curley's deposition reveal the following undisputed facts. On the day Menario returned to work from a week vacation, Curley and Dutton gave Menario a copy of a letter that they had sent to the Civil Service Commission, alleging that Tucci had cheated while taking the promotional exam. The letter detailed their grounds for the charge and why they did not take immediate action. At this point, Menario discussed the charges with them and suggested that they attempt to confirm the charges by comparing Tucci's answers with those of Karl Learned, the man from whom Tucci allegedly cheated. Dutton performed the comparison and later reported the results to Menario. The comparison showed that, out of 100 questions, both answer sheets had 47 identical correct answers and 27 questions were answered by the same incorrect alternative. Menario later wrote in the Menario memo that having seen the analysis of the two score cards I was convinced beyond doubt that cheating took place. Actual malice cannot be inferred solely from Menario's dislike of Tucci. Michaud, 381 A.2d at 1113. There must be evidence tending to show with convincing clarity that Menario entertained serious doubts as to the truth of the matter asserted. id. at 1113-14. Even viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, the added fact that Menario knew Curley disliked Tucci would not support a jury finding of actual malice on the record in this case. Although the failure to investigate allegations received from a source known to be hostile to the subject of the publication may support a finding of actual malice, [6] this is not a case in which Menario failed to investigate the veracity of the allegations. Here there were two sources of information. Even if Curley was biased, there is nothing in the record to show that Dutton was unreliable or biased. Menario discussed the allegations of cheating with both sources and he read the letter sent by both of them to the Civil Service Commission, alleging that cheating had occurred. He did not rest on their representations alone; he asked them to prepare a comparison of the tests. This task was performed by Dutton, the reliable or at least untainted source. Tucci does not challenge the results of the test comparison. Rather, he claims that Menario did an incomplete investigation by not having the test analyzed by expert statisticians. In the context of this case, Tucci takes nothing by this claim. On its face, the results of the test comparison seem suspicious such that the results would not have been an obvious reason for Menario to entertain doubts as to the truth of the allegations. Although he may have been biased, there is simply no evidence on this record from which a jury could infer with convincing clarity that Menario published the Menario memo with reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of the matter. Accordingly, we conclude that the presiding justice properly granted summary judgment in favor of defendant Menario.