Opinion ID: 2381051
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Preliminary Objections of BIC and its Employees

Text: When reviewing a grant of a demurrer, all well-pleaded facts averred in the complaint are deemed admitted, and in order for the demurrer to be sustained, the complaint must indicate on its face that the claim cannot be satisfied and the law will not permit recovery. Rosenwald v. Barbieri, 501 Pa. 563, 566, 462 A.2d 644, 646 (1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1024, 104 S.Ct. 1279, 79 L.Ed.2d 683 (1984). Appellant's complaint alleged first that the report prepared by BIC for the insurance company contained defamatory matter concerning appellant. In an action for defamation, the plaintiff has the burden of proving, when the issue is properly raised: (1) The defamatory character of the communication. (2) Its publication by the defendant. (3) Its application to the plaintiff. (4) The understanding by the recipient of its defamatory meaning. (5) The understanding by the recipient of it as intended to be applied to the plaintiff. (6) Special harm resulting to the plaintiff from its publication. (7) Abuse of a conditionally privileged occasion. 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 8343(a). Following the United States Supreme Court's decision in Gertz v. Welch, 418 U.S. 323, 94 S.Ct. 2997, 41 L.Ed.2d 789 (1974), a private figure plaintiff must also prove negligence or wilful misconduct by the defendant. Hepps v. Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc., 506 Pa. 304, 323, 485 A.2d 374, 384 (1984). See also Restatement (Second) of Torts § 613 (1977) [hereinafter cited as Restatement]. In the instant case, the lower court held that BIC's report to the insurance company did not constitute publication. See Lower Court Opinion of February 3, 1984 at 1. We disagree. Publication of defamatory matter is the intentional or negligent communication of such matter to one other than the person defamed. Gaetano v. Sharon Herald Co., 426 Pa. 179, 182, 231 A.2d 753, 755 (1967); Agriss v. Roadway Express, Inc., 334 Pa.Superior Ct. 295, 328, 483 A.2d 456, 463 (1984); Restatement § 577. Here, BIC's report did communicate the allegedly defamatory matter to a third party, the insurance company. However, a publisher of defamatory matter is not liable if the publication was made subject to a privilege, and the privilege was not abused. Restatement § 593. Communications made on a proper occasion, from a proper motive, in a proper manner, and based upon reasonable cause are privileged. Beckman v. Dunn, 276 Pa.Superior Ct. 527, 536, 419 A.2d 583, 587 (1980); see also Baird v. Dun & Bradstreet, Inc., 446 Pa. 266, 275, 285 A.2d 166, 171 (1971). An occasion giving rise to a conditional privilege occurs when (1) some interest of the publisher of the defamatory matter is involved; (2) some interest of the recipient of the matter, or a third party, is involved; or (3) a recognized interest of the public is involved. Beckman v. Dunn, supra, 276 Pa.Superior Ct. at 536, 419 A.2d at 587. Although the defendant in a defamation action ordinarily bears the burden of establishing a privilege to publish defamatory matter, 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 8343(b)(2), where a conditional privilege is evidenced, as here, in the plaintiff's complaint, the plaintiff will be nonsuited unless he can prove abuse of the privilege. Baird v. Dun & Bradstreet, Inc., supra, 446 Pa. at 275, 285 A.2d at 171; Rankin v. Phillippe, 206 Pa.Superior Ct. 27, 32, 211 A.2d 56, 58 (1965). In the instant case, the insurance company's interest in paying only legitimate claims was raised by appellant's personal injury action. It is also in society's best interest for valid insurance claims to be ascertained and fabricated claims exposed. Forster v. Manchester, 410 Pa. 192, 197, 189 A.2d 147, 150 (1963). Although no Pennsylvania case has held that an investigator's report to an insurance company is a conditionally privileged occasion, we find support for this privilege in two similar situations. In Baird v. Dun & Bradstreet, Inc., supra , our Supreme Court held that a credit reporting agency has a conditional privilege to publish defamatory matter, provided that the publication is made in response to a request. 446 Pa. at 274-75, 285 A.2d at 171. The basis for the privilege is that the subscriber who requests information from a credit agency has a legitimate business interest in the information gathered by the agency. In Campbell v. Willmark Service System, Inc., 123 F.2d 204 (3d Cir. 1941), the owner of a chain of stores hired the defendant to inspect the stores and report on the results of the inspection. During the course of the inspection, the defendant discovered that the plaintiff was violating store rules and reported these violations to the owner and the manager of the store where the plaintiff worked. The court held that defendant's publications of the plaintiff's violations to both the manager and the owner were privileged because of the recipients' interest in the information published. Here, as in Baird and Campbell, the publication of information collected by a defendant at the request of a party with an interest in the information should be privileged. We therefore find that BIC's report to the insurance company constituted a conditionally privileged publication. Thus, in order to recover, appellant must show that BIC abused the conditional privilege. Abuse of a conditional privilege is indicated when the publication is actuated by malice or negligence, Baird v. Dun & Bradstreet, Inc., supra , is made for a purpose other than that for which the privilege is given, Rankin v. Phillippe, supra , or to a person not reasonably believed to be necessary for the accomplishment of the purpose of the privilege, id., or includes defamatory matter not reasonably believed to be necessary for the accomplishment of the purpose. See Restatement (Second) Torts § 599 (1976). Beckman v. Dunn, supra, 276 Pa.Superior Ct. at 537, 419 A.2d at 588 (footnote omitted). After reviewing appellant's complaint, we find that it does not allege facts which, if proved, would demonstrate abuse of the conditional privilege. Appellant also contends that the efforts of BIC's employees to obtain information concerning his visits to the hospital were an invasion of privacy. According to BIC's report, which is attached to the complaint, BIC's investigators utilized a pretext to talk with the hospital's credit manager and secure the records she had of appellant's outpatient treatments. These records apparently contained a brief summary of appellant's medical complaint, diagnosis, and charge for each visit. They revealed that between October, 1981 and November, 1982 appellant was treated for bronchitis, hematemisis, a shoulder injury, and a series of migraine headaches. Our Court has adopted the definition of the tort of invasion of privacy promulgated by the Restatement §§ 652B-E. Harris v. Easton Publishing Co., 335 Pa.Superior Ct. 141, 153, 483 A.2d 1377, 1383 (1984). Section 652B of the Restatement provides: One who intentionally intrudes, physically or otherwise, upon the solitude or seclusion of another or his private affairs or concerns, is subject to liability to the other for invasion of his privacy, if the intrusion would be highly offensive to a reasonable person. Here, appellant's complaint alleges that BIC's employees intentionally intruded upon his private affairs by securing the hospital's records. However, liability will not attach to that act unless the intrusion is substantial and highly offensive to a reasonable person. Harris v. Easton Publishing Co., supra, 335 Pa.Superior Ct. at 154, 483 A.2d at 1383-84; Restatement § 652B comment d. In the instant case, we find that appellant has not pleaded sufficient facts to establish a substantial intrusion of a highly offensive nature. Cf. Nagy v. Bell Telephone Co., 292 Pa.Superior Ct. 24, 436 A.2d 701 (1981) (act of obtaining from telephone company a list of telephone numbers dialed long distance from subscriber's phone was not a highly offensive act to which liability would attach). The brief descriptions of appellant's medical treatment cannot be deemed a substantial intrusion. Furthermore, the information disclosed by the hospital records is not of the sort which would cause mental suffering, shame or humiliation to a person of ordinary sensibilities. Hull v. Curtis Publishing Co., 182 Pa.Superior Ct. 86, 99, 125 A.2d 644, 646 (1956), quoting Smith v. Doss, 251 Ala. 250, 252-53, 37 So.2d 118, 120-21 (1948). Clearly, the conduct of BIC and its employees falls short of this standard. [4]