Opinion ID: 1214384
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Dunlea's Defamation and Emotional Distress Claims

Text: It is well settled that: We review [a] circuit court's award of summary judgment de novo under the same standard applied by the circuit court. Amfac, Inc. v. Waikiki Beachcomber Inc. Co., 74 Haw. 85, 104, 839 P.2d 10, 22, reconsideration denied, 74 Haw. 650, 843 P.2d 144 (1992) (citation omitted). As we have often articulated: [s]ummary judgment is appropriate if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Id. (emphasis added) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted); see Hawai`i Rules of Civil Procedure (HRCP) Rule 56(c) (1990). A fact is material if proof of that fact would have the effect of establishing or refuting one of the essential elements of a cause of action or defense asserted by the parties. Hulsman v. Hemmeter Dev. Corp., 65 Haw. 58, 61, 647 P.2d 713, 716 (1982) (citations omitted). Hays, 81 Hawai`i at 392-93, 917 P.2d at 719-20 (quoting Maguire v. Hilton Hotels Corp., 79 Hawai`i 110, 112, 899 P.2d 393, 395 (1995)) (brackets in original).
In order to sustain a claim for defamation, a plaintiff must establish the following four elements: (a) a false and defamatory statement concerning another; (b) an unprivileged publication to a third party; (c) fault amounting at least to negligence on the part of the publisher [actual malice where the plaintiff is a public figure]; and (d) either actionability of the statement irrespective of special harm or the existence of special harm caused by the publication. Beamer v. Nishiki, 66 Haw. 572, 578-79, 670 P.2d 1264, 1271 (1983) (quoting Restatement (Second) of Torts § 558 (1977)). As previously indicated, Dunlea's defamation claim was based entirely on the statement Dappen had made to his other daughter, Dunlea's sister, that he was still angry with Dunlea and would not forgive her for what happened in 1964. In response to Dunlea's request for admissions, Dappen admitted that, in a conversation with Patricia Jacobs [Dunlea's sister], vacationing with Defendant Howard Dappen, Patricia Jacobs was told [that] Mr. Dappen would not forgive [Dunlea] for allegations brought in 1964. In his motion for summary judgment on the defamation claim, Dappen had the initial burden of identifying those portions of the record demonstrating the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. First Hawaiian Bank v. Weeks, 70 Haw. 392, 396, 772 P.2d 1187, 1190 (1989) (citing Wright, Miller & Kane Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil 2d, section 2711, at 555-56 (1983)). Dappen met this burden by identifying the portion of Dunlea's deposition testimony wherein she testified that I believe it [(Dappen's statement to Dunlea's sister) ] to be true. He [ (Dappen) ] said he was angry, and he said he would never forgive me, and I believe he speaks the truth of [sic] that. (Emphasis added.) Additionally, Dappen identified other portions of Dunlea's deposition testimony demonstrating that Dunlea suffered no damage to her reputation, nor were her personal associations with friends and relatives affected. Dappen asserted that there was no genuine issue of to her material fact and that he was therefore entitled to judgment as a matter of law because Dunlea could not establish that the statement was false and defamatory. In opposing summary judgment, Dunlea attempted to convince the circuit court of the existence of genuine issues for trial by submitting an affidavit wherein she attested that: What [Dappen] meant when he said that he would not forgive me for allegations brought in 1964[ ] is that I was wrong for bringing these charges against him because he has consistently maintained that they were not true. These statements were understood by those who knew of my victimization in 1964[ ] to mean that I was bringing false charges at that time[.] Dunlea, however, failed to set forth any specific facts showing that the truthfulness of the statement was a genuine issue for trial. Although Dunlea interpreted Dappen's statement as an assertion that her accusations against Dappen were false, the truth of an alleged defamatory statement is measured by the ordinary implication of the words used. Basilius v. Honolulu Pub. Co., Ltd., 711 F.Supp. 548, 551 (D.Haw.), aff'd without opinion, 888 F.2d 1394 (9th Cir.1989). Dunlea argues that the ordinary implication of the word forgive is that there was some act committed by her that required forgiveness. Thus, Dunlea urges that Dappen's statement implied that he would not forgive her for bringing false accusations against him; in other words, he would not forgive her for lying. Dappen's statement, however, is equally capable of a nondefamatory interpretation, that is, that Dappen would not forgive Dunlea for betraying him or for being disloyal. We have stated that summary judgment would be proper where, although the communication is susceptible to a defamatory interpretation, the moving party showed `through uncontroverted depositions and affidavits that the publication was made without deliberate falsification and without a high degree of awareness of the probable falsity of the statements in the publication[.] Fernandes v. Tenbruggencate, 65 Haw. 226, 228-29, 649 P.2d 1144, 1147 (1982) (citation omitted). Because there is no dispute that the statement at issue was true, we hold that summary judgment was properly granted with respect to count I.
In Count II of her complaint, Dunlea alleged that Dappen's statements to Jacobs and to Dunlea directly, that he would not forgive Dunlea for what she had done in 1964, constitute extreme and outrageous conduct which was intended to cause severe emotional distress and did cause severe emotional distress. [11] Dappen's motion for summary judgment established, by means of Dunlea's deposition testimony, that there is no dispute that: (1) Dappen's statement to Jacobs was made on Dappen's lanai, with no one but himself and Jacobs present; (2) Dappen's statement to Dunlea was made in response to Dunlea's inquiry in the course of a telephone conversation initiated by Dunlea; (3) the statement was made to Dunlea only once; and (4) there was no further contact between Dappen and Dunlea following the single phone call. In her opposition to Dappen's motion, Dunlea failed to establish that there was a genuine issue of material fact; she attached only Dappen's responses to a request for admissions in which Dappen admitted that (1) he made the statement to Jacobs, and (2) Defendant Howard Dappen states when[,] in August of 1991, Sandra Dunlea called and asked, Defendant Dappen told her he would not forgive her for making accusations. Therefore, summary judgment with respect to count II of Dunlea's complaint would be proper if, on the undisputed facts, Dappen was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. In Marshall v. University of Hawai`i, 9 Haw.App. 21, 38, 821 P.2d 937, 947 (1991), the Intermediate Court of Appeals enumerated the elements of the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress: (1) that the fact allegedly causing the harm was intentional; (2) that the act was unreasonable; and (3) that the actor should have recognized that the act was likely to result in illness. Id. (citation omitted). More recently, in Ross, this court explained that [r]ecovery for intentional infliction of emotional distress is permitted only if the alleged tortfeasor's acts were unreasonable. Calleon v. Miyagi, 76 Hawai`i 310, 321 n. 7, 876 P.2d 1278, 1289[, n. 7] (Sup. 1994), as amended, 76 Hawai`i 453, 879 P.2d 558 (Sup.1994); Chedester v. Stecker, 64 Haw. 464, 467, 643 P.2d 532, 535 (1982); Marshall v. University of Hawai`i, 9 Haw. App. 21, 38, 821 P.2d 937, 947 (1991). An act is unreasonable if it is `without just cause or excuse and beyond all bounds of decency[.]' Chedester, 64 Haw. at 468, 643 P.2d at 535 (quoting Fraser v. Blue Cross Animal Hospital, 39 Haw. 370, 375 (1952)). In other words, the act complained of must be outrageous, as that term is employed in the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 46 (1965). Id. The question whether the actions of the alleged tortfeasor are unreasonable or outrageous is for the court in the first instance, although where reasonable persons may differ on that question it should be left to the jury. Wong v. Panis, 7 Haw. App. 414, 421, 772 P.2d 695, 700 (1989) (citing Restatement (Second) of Torts § 46 comment h). Ross, 76 Hawai`i at 465, 879 P.2d at 1048 (footnote omitted). We noted that, [i]n explaining the type of outrageous conduct that makes a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress actionable, the Restatement (Second) of Torts states: It has not been enough that the defendant has acted with an intent which is tortious or even criminal, or that he has intended to inflict emotional distress, or even that his conduct has been characterized by malice, or a degree of aggravation which would entitle the plaintiff to punitive damages for another tort. Liability has been found only where the conduct has been so outrageous in character, and so extreme in degree, as to go beyond all bounds of decency, and to be regarded as atrocious, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community. Generally, the case is one in which the recitation of the facts to an average member of the community would arouse his resentment against the actor, and lead him to exclaim, Outrageous! Restatement (Second) of Torts § 46 comment d. Ross, 76 Hawai`i at 465 n. 12, 879 P.2d at 1048 n. 12. Dunlea points to no evidence in the record that Dappen's statement to Jacobs was outrageous, or that Dappen should have recognized that his statement to Jacobs would cause Dunlea illness or injury. Dappen expressed his own feelings to a close family member in the privacy of his home. We therefore hold that Dappen's statement to Jacobs was not so unreasonable or outrageous as to give rise to a cause of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Because the statement to Jacobs was not actionable, we also hold that Dappen's statement was not made actionable by the fact that he repeated it to Dunlea, in direct response to Dunlea's inquiry. Consequently, Dappen's motion for summary judgment on County II of Dunlea's complaint was properly granted.