Opinion ID: 686466
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Definition of Malice

Text: 11 Our first task is to determine what definition of malice the Texas courts would apply in this case. Under the common law definition, [m]alice has been defined as ill will, bad or evil motive, or such gross indifference or reckless disregard of the rights of others as to amount to a willful or wanton act. Marathon Oil Co., 682 S.W.2d at 631. Actual malice, a term of art developed in New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 84 S.Ct. 710, 11 L.Ed.2d 686 (1964), and its progeny, is somewhat different: 12 Actual malice is not ill will; it is the making of a statement with knowledge that it is false, or with reckless disregard of whether it is true. 'Reckless disregard' is defined as a high degree of awareness of probable falsity, for proof of which the plaintiff must present 'sufficient evidence to permit the conclusion that the defendant in fact entertained serious doubts as to the truth of his publication.' An error in judgment is not enough. Carr v. Brasher, 776 S.W.2d 567, 571 (Tex.1989) (citations omitted). 13 This is a higher standard than common law malice; only clear and convincing proof will support recovery. Howell v. Hecht, 821 S.W.2d 627, 630 (Tex.App.--Dallas 1991, writ denied). Negligence, lack of investigation, or failure to act as a reasonably prudent person are insufficient to show actual malice. Shearson Lehman Hutton, Inc. v. Tucker, 806 S.W.2d 914, 924 (Tex.App.--Corpus Christi 1991, writ dismissed w.o.j.); Marathon Oil Co., 682 S.W.2d at 631. 14 Duffy argues that the actual malice standard implicates values unique to the First Amendment and should be confined to cases involving free speech concerns. 6 Texas case law does not support such an interpretation. In Dun and Bradstreet, Inc. v. O'Neil, 456 S.W.2d 896 (Tex.1970), the defendant, a mercantile credit reporting agency, was sued for defamation for erroneously reporting to its subscribers that the plaintiff had voluntarily filed for bankruptcy. Id. at 898. Finding that the defendant enjoyed a qualified privilege because of its contractual duty to report such information to its subscribers, id. at 899, the Texas Supreme Court held that 15 [t]he New York Times definition of actual malice which this Court applied in El Paso Times is likewise applicable in the instant case, all three cases being libel suits, all three cases involving publishers' privileges and all three cases requiring malice to overcome the privileges. Insofar as the definition of actual malice is concerned we do not think the instant case involving a conditional privilege is distinguishable from the New York Times and El Paso Times cases which involve First Amendment Constitutional privileges. Id., 456 S.W.2d at 900-01. 16 Duffy's assertion that the common law definition of malice should apply to employer-employee cases therefore misses the mark; the appropriate reference point is whether, regardless of who the parties are, a qualified privilege exists. Where it does, actual malice must be shown. Shearson Lehman Hutton, Inc., 806 S.W.2d at 924; Marathon Oil Co., 682 S.W.2d at 631. See also Ryder Truck Rentals v. Latham, 593 S.W.2d 334, 341 (Tex.Civ.App.--El Paso 1979, writ ref'd n.r.e.); Mayfield v. Gleichert, 484 S.W.2d 619, 627 (Tex.Civ.App.--Tyler 1972, no writ); Restatement (Second) of Torts Sec. 600.