Court Opinion

ID: 9567119
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 19:49:03.155921+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:59:43.470776
License: Public Domain

Weltner, Justice.
This case appears here for the second time. Busbin originally sued the Georgia Power Company (Georgia Power) and two supervisors, Moore and Cordova, seeking damages for wrongful discharge, conspiracy to procure the discharge, slander and libel. The jury returned a verdict against Georgia Power and one supervisor, *181and the Court of Appeals affirmed. Ga. Power Co. v. Busbin, 145 Ga. App. 438 (244 SE2d 26) (1978). This court reversed (Ga. Power Co. v. Busbin, 242 Ga. 612 (250 SE2d 442) (1978)) and the case was remanded for a new trial. See Ga. Power Co. v. Busbin, 149 Ga. App. 274 (254 SE2d 146) (1979) (certiorari denied). On retrial Busbin obtained a jury verdict against all the defendants jointly for libel and against the two supervisors for slander and wrongful discharge. The Court of Appeals reversed that portion of the judgment concerning slander and wrongful discharge, and affirmed the judgment against all three defendants for libel. Ga. Power Co. v. Busbin, 159 Ga. App. 416 (283 SE2d 647) (1981). We granted the application for a writ of certiorari filed by Georgia Power to consider (1) whether a paraphrased oral communication of a written defamatory statement constitutes the publication of a libel, and (2) whether the oral communication of the allegedly libelous statement was invited by the party claiming to have been libeled. As we answer the second question in the affirmative we need not address the first.
The facts are fully set out in Busbin, supra, 159 Ga. App. 416. Briefly, the libel charge is based on the following circumstances: Georgia Power conducted an audit at the Homerville office, of which Busbin was the local manager. On the basis of the audit, which revealed some discrepancies in the handling of funds at the Homerville office, Busbin was discharged from employment. The results of the audit were reduced to writing. Some weeks later, a Georgia Power staff meeting was held in Way cross, which was attended by another employee of Georgia Power, Hill. Sometime after this meeting, Hill went to Busbin’s house, where Busbin was alone with his wife. According to Hill, on this occasion Busbin asked him “some questions about, you know, what [Hill] had heard about [Busbin’s] situation.” According to Busbin, Hill responded, in the presence of Busbin’s wife, that the audit report had been discussed at the staff meeting and that it showed, among other things, “misappropriation of company funds. . . .” There is no evidence to show that Hill actually ever read the audit report.
(1) Assuming, without deciding, that Hill’s response was libelous, it is nonetheless not actionable, as there can be no recovery for an invited libel. King v. Masson, 148 Ga. App. 229 (1) (251 SE2d 107) (1978); Beck v. Oden, 64 Ga. App. 407 (13 SE2d 468) (1941). It is not necessary to a finding of invitation that the one to whom the alleged libel is published acts as the agent of or intercessor for the complainant. Jackson v. Douglas County &c. Corp., 150 Ga. App. 523 (1) (258 SE2d 152) (1979). While Busbin may not have known the precise content of the audit report prior to Hill’s visit, he knew that Georgia Power had conducted an audit at the Homerville office, *182which involved accounts for which he was responsible. He knew also that hé had been discharged. When Busbin asked Hill about his “situation,” the question could only relate to the audit and to the circumstances surrounding his discharge, which he must have known were drastically unfavorable. He knew also, of course, of his wife’s presence. It is not necessary that the complainant know the exact nature of the libelous matter in order for there to be an invitation of the publication of a libel. Indeed, if the inquirer had foreknowledge of the response, there would be no need for inquiry. It is enough that the complainant requests or consents to the presence of a third party and solicits the publication of matter which he knows or has reasonable cause to suspect will be unfavorable to him. The only rational conclusion to be drawn from the evidence is that Busbin invited the publication to his wife of the allegedly libelous matter.
(2) Busbin contends that the law of the case was fixed by the prior holdings of the Court of Appeals and this court and that we are thus precluded from now holding that there can be no recovery for libel as a matter of law. See Code Ann. § 81A-160 (h); Medlock v. Allison, 224 Ga. 648 (164 SE2d 112) (1968).
After the reversal by this court in Busbin, supra, 242 Ga. 612, the Court of Appeals held, on cross-appeal by Busbin, that “... it became a jury issue as to what was intended by the spoken word as well as what was understood by the various hearers with reference to the special audit.” 149 Ga. App. at 275, 276. “Whether there was libel and slander involved in this case under the circumstances in which the special audit was discussed among employees (supervisory and otherwise) after plaintiff was discharged this was a question for determination by the jury.” Id. at 277, 278. Georgia Power’s petition for a writ of certiorari was denied. See 149 Ga. App. 898.
The case now comes to us after retrial, further review by the Court of Appeals (159 Ga. App. 416) and our grant of Georgia Power’s petition for a writ of certiorari. It should be noted that in its most recent opinion the Court of Appeals specifically addressed the issue of invitation, rather than holding that such consideration was precluded under the law of the case. 159 Ga. App. at 421.
Whether or not the holding of the Court of Appeals (149 Ga. App. 274) is the law of the case, nothing precludes consideration of the issue of invitation upon the present appeal, as the record was expanded on retrial to include the circumstances upon which our holding in Division 1 is based. Walter v. Davidson, 214 Ga. 187 (2) (104 SE2d 113) (1958); Fuller v. Fuller, 213 Ga. 103, 104 (97 SE2d 306) (1957); Christian v. Allstate Ins. Co., 152 Ga. App. 358 (1) (262 SE2d 621) (1979). Only at the second trial of this case did all the circumstances surrounding Hill’s conversation with Busbin in the *183presence of Busbin’s wife come to light. Specifically, there is nothing in the record of the first trial to indicate that Busbin solicited any information from Hill.
Decided March 10, 1982
Rehearing denied March 23, 1982.
Robert L. Pennington, Frederick E. Link, Wade H. Coleman, for appellants.
Jack J. Helms, for appellee.
James E. Butler, Jr., William S. Stone, Conley Ingram, Franklin R. Nix, Scott Jacobson, amici curiae.

Judgment reversed.

All the Justices concur, except Hill, P. J., and Smith, J., who dissent.