Opinion ID: 2995199
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Ill App.2d 186, 191, 257 N.E.2d 183, 185

Text: (1970); see also Bobkoski v. Board of Educ. of Cary Cmty. Consol. Sch. Dist. No. 26, No. 90 C 5737, 1991 WL 10742, at  (N.D. Ill. Jan. 31, 1991). We turn to whether the remaining defendants--Dr. Sloan, Dr. Biancalana, and Ballantyne--are also immune from suit. We have remarked with regard to this issue that even if a statement is defamatory, under Illinois law, the defendants would have immunity for their statements made within the scope of their authority. Klug v. Chicago Sch. Reform Bd. of Trs., 197 F.3d 853, 861 (7th Cir. 1999) (citing Blair v. Walker, 64 Ill.2d 1, 349 N.E.2d 385 (1976)). The question we address is whether Dr. Sloan, Dr. Biancalana, and Ballantyne were acting within the scope of their official duties when they made the alleged statements in question. According to Horwitz, the individual defendants made defamatory remarks when they were discussing or corresponding with parents about her absence from school that began on March 16, 1999. It is evident that Dr. Sloan, Dr. Biancalana, and Ballantyne were not acting in their personal capacities, but rather their official capacities when they were attempting to respond to parents’ concerns regarding Horwitz’s absence. Likewise, they were acting within the scope of their official duties and authority when they corresponded or spoke with various parents about Horwitz’s absence. We accord such an absolute privilege to particular officials because as the Supreme Court of Illinois in Blair, 64 Ill.2d at 9, 349 N.E.2d at 388, explained, the United States Supreme Court in Barr v. Matteo, 360 U.S. 564, 571 (1959) has said that [i]t has been thought important that officials of government should be free to exercise their duties unembarrassed by the fear of damage suits in respect of acts done in the course of those duties . . . . Absolute immunity cannot be overcome by a showing of improper motivation or knowledge of the statement’s falsity, including malice. Klug, 197 F.3d at 861; see also Blair, 64