Opinion ID: 1943659
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Manner of the Investigation

Text: Bahr contends, in essence, that Boise undertook a sham investigation. In other words, he argues that Boise was determined to discipline him no matter what the investigation revealed and that its investigation was designed, not to investigate the truth of Rasmussen's harassment allegations, but was designed to injure his relationship with the company. See McBride, 306 Minn. at 98, 235 N.W.2d at 375 (noting that malice may be shown where the defendant acts causelessly and wantonly to injure plaintiff). Bahr offers two theories to support his conclusion about Boise's motive for the investigation. First, Bahr points to Betty Leen's notes from her October 18, 2001 meeting with Rasmussen reflecting that both Rasmussen and R.B. accused Bahr of harassment. Bahr further cites R.B.'s testimony that she attended the meeting only to support Rasmussen, but that she did not intend to file a complaint against Bahr. From this evidence, Bahr suggests Boise exaggerated the nature of the harassment allegations and that such exaggeration supports an inference that Leen was prejudiced against him. Even if we assume that Leen's erroneous attribution of the harassment allegations to R.B. could be viewed as evidence that Leen was prejudiced against Bahr, such prejudice does not support the inference that Boise published defamatory statements with actual malice. The defamatory statements Boise is alleged to have made were its repeating the defamatory harassment allegations during its investigation. The evidence establishes that the number of people who reported the harassment allegations, whether Rasmussen reported them alone or whether R.B. also reported those allegations, had no bearing on the nature of Boise's investigation. It was the fact of the harassment complaint that caused Boise to conduct the investigation (and thus repeat the defamatory statements), not the number of people who claimed to have been harassed. Regardless of the number of people who attended the meeting to file the complaint, the Boise Corporate Policy establishes that Boise would have undertaken the investigation. Under the Boise Corporate Policy, harassment of any employee by any ... co-worker ... will not be tolerated and will trigger a prompt and thorough investigation. In other words, the record does not support a conclusion that Leen fabricated the number of people complaining about Bahr in order to cause an investigation in which defamatory statements about Bahr would be repeated. Second, Bahr argues that Boise management conducted a sham investigation because the evidence shows that Boise predetermined an outcome of discipline before completing the investigation, and that Boise management disregarded any facts revealed in the investigation that favored Bahr. Bahr also relies on the fact that he was escorted from the mill without explanation and without an opportunity to provide his version of the events, and he argues that this shows that Boise had ill will toward him. From this evidence, Bahr argues that a reasonable jury could conclude that Boise acted with actual malice. We disagree. The question is whether Boise conducted its investigation, during which it is alleged to have re-published the defamatory statements, with actual malice. The record conclusively shows that Boise management undertook an investigation not from ill will, but in order to determine the validity of Rasmussen's allegations. Boise management began the investigation according to the Corporate Policy, which provide that, A prompt and thorough investigation will be conducted, and appropriate disciplinary action, up to and including termination, will be taken against any employee who is found to have been responsible for harassment or for knowingly permitting a hostile work environment to exist. Boise limited republication of the alleged defamatory statements to employees that the company could have reasonably believed would provide some information about the truth or falsity of Rasmussen's allegations. Questions asked of the interviewees, moreover, remained within the scope of allegations. And Boise interviewed Bahr twice during this investigation to obtain his version of the events. With respect to the decision to discipline, the record shows that, during the investigation, Barb Johnson spoke with Jack Strongman, the head of the Human Resources Department, about possible avenues of discipline if the allegations were believed to be true. Johnson made a preliminary decision to impose a three-day suspension, but she testified that the final decision to discipline was not made until after Boise had heard from Bahr and completed its investigation. Bahr offered no evidence to contradict this testimony. [14] It might be argued that Boise should have conducted a more detailed or different investigation prior to imposing discipline. But pointing merely to instances in which Boise might have better conducted the investigation does not provide a basis for a reasonable jury to conclude that Boise repeated defamatory statements motivated by a design to causelessly and wantonly injure Bahr. See Stuempges, 297 N.W.2d at 257.