Court Opinion

ID: 9625593
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 07:45:29.701817+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:06:11.670960
License: Public Domain

Hunter, J.
The plaintiff (appellant), William Taskett, appeals from a summary judgment entered by the Superior Court for King County in favor of the defendants (respondents), KING Broadcasting Company and James Harriott, KING’S anchorman on the evening news. The plaintiff’s action sounds in libel, and this appeal raises the question of whether “actual malice” needs to be established when the statement was directed at a private person, yet pertains to an issue of public concern.
For almost 20 years the plaintiff had been engaged in the advertising business in the Seattle area, owning 95 percent of an agency incorporated under the name Bill Taskett & Associates, Inc. The agency was principally involved in the placement of ads for other businesses and private individuals with the radio and television media.
In December of 1972, the plaintiff’s business had suffered serious financial setbacks. He had lost one of his most lucrative accounts, and there were insufficient assets with which to meet his total debts. The threat of lawsuits and pressure from creditors finally took its toll causing the plaintiff to follow the advice of his attorney and file for a statutory dissolution of the corporation. A certified public accountant was appointed as trustee and a notice of dissolution was sent out to all creditors, including the defendant. Feeling in need of rest, the plaintiff and his wife decided to take a short vacation in Mexico. Under the mistaken belief that a prior deposit would be applied by his landlord against his rent owing for his office space in November and *441December of 1972, the plaintiff did not make any payments for these 2 months, and he left Seattle without giving any notice. Upon departing, the plaintiff sublet his apartment to a friend. At this time his liabilities exceeded $90,000, while his assets were but a fraction of this amount.
On January 11, 1973, KING television, on its evening newscast, carried a story about the disappearance of the plaintiff. Mike James, a reporter for the defendant, had investigated the story, talking to the individual who was living in the plaintiff’s apartment, the trustee, various creditors, and looking at court files which related to suits being brought against the plaintiff. James ascertained that the plaintiff was in Mexico by finding a note in the plaintiff’s office with a hotel number on it. Upon calling the hotel, James discovered that the plaintiff had just left. The story was then turned over to John Heffron, the news director at KING, for his final approval. The text of the story is set out in full in the appendix to this opinion. Suffice to say that the plaintiff contends the story depicted him as a “thief and a swindler,” which constituted libel per se, since, he contended, it was wholly unfounded in fact.
Upon learning of the story, the plaintiff returned to Seattle, but was unable to gain employment, which ultimately necessitated the moving of his family to California. The plaintiff brought this action against the defendants, who moved for summary judgment relying on this court’s decision in Miller v. Argus Publishing Co., 79 Wn.2d 816, 490 P.2d 101 (1971), which required the plaintiff to establish “actual malice” with convincing clarity. Prior to reaching its decision, the recent holding in Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 41 L. Ed. 2d 789, 94 S. Ct. 2997 (1974), was brought to the attention of the trial court, which permitted each state to establish its own standard for libel actions brought by private individuals over stories relating to matters of public concern. However, the trial court granted the motion citing the Miller decision. Even though the court found that the plaintiff was a private individual and that the story related to a matter of general public *442concern, it also stated that any change in the law would have to come from the state Supreme Court. The plaintiff’s appeal was certified to this court by the Court of Appeals.
Prior to 1964, the libel laws of the individual states had developed from the common law, free of any First Amendment considerations. However, in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 279-80, 11 L. Ed. 2d 686, 84 S. Ct. 710, 95 A.L.R.2d 1412 (1964), the United States Supreme Court departed from the common-law approach and enunciated the following test:
The constitutional guarantees require, we think, a federal rule that prohibits a public official from recovering damages for a defamatory falsehood relating to his official conduct unless he proves that the statement was made with “actual malice” — that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.
In 1967, the court extended its rule to those instances involving public figures. Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts, 388 U.S. 130, 18 L. Ed. 2d 1094, 87 S. Ct. 1975 (1967). In response to these newly announced constitutional considerations, we adopted the above rule, so far as it applied to public officials and public figures, in Grayson v. Curtis Publishing Co., 72 Wn.2d 999, 436 P. 2d 756 (1967). From this point, the United States Supreme Court took the final step and extended the New York Times rule to comments which pertained to private individuals, yet dealt with matters of public or general interest. Rosenbloom v. Metromedia, Inc., 403 U.S. 29, 29 L. Ed. 2d 296, 91 S. Ct. 1811 (1971). However, unlike New York Times and Curtis, Rosenbloom was decided by a mere plurality decision. Regardless of the obvious conflicting opinions on our highest court, upon being confronted with the same issue, we accepted what was then considered to be a constitutionally required rule, and formally adopted the Rosenbloom plurality decision in Miller v. Argus Publishing Co., 79 Wn.2d 816, 490 P.2d 101 (1971).
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, supra, and its progeny, *443clearly represents an attempt to reconcile the state’s interest in protecting the reputations of its citizens and the constitutional guarantee of a free and vibrant press, the latter being made paramount to the former. Rosenblatt v. Baer, 383 U.S. 75, 15 L. Ed. 2d 597, 86 S. Ct. 669 (1966); Tilton v. Cowles Publishing Co., 76 Wn.2d 707, 459 P.2d 8 (1969). However, the court lacked solidarity on this basic issue as witnessed by the fact that each time the New York Times rule was extended, dissention increased, ultimately resulting in the Rosenbloom plurality. Therefore, it came as little surprise when the court granted certiorari “to reconsider the extent of a publisher’s constitutional privilege against liability for defamation of a private citizen.” Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., supra at 325.
In Gertz, the plaintiff, a private attorney practicing in Chicago, brought an action against Robert Welch, Inc., for an article published in the defendant’s monthly magazine, which characterized him as a “Leninist” and a “Communist-fronter” who was behind a Communist campaign conspiring to discredit law enforcement agencies across the country. The jury awarded the plaintiff $50,000. However, anticipating the Rosenbloom decision, the federal district court entered a judgment notwithstanding the verdict applying the New York Times standard. This decision was affirmed by the Court of Appeals. Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 471 F.2d 801 (7th Cir. 1972). The United States Supreme Court reevaluated its Rosenbloom decision in an attempt to achieve a more realistic accommodation between the states’ legitimate interest in protecting private individuals from defamatory falsehoods, and the need for a free press. The court concluded that the New York Times rule, while retaining its validity as to public officials and public figures, “inadequately serves both of the competing values at stake” when applied to private citizens, and that the states’ interest in providing a remedy to these defamed individuals required a different rule where the substance of the statement “ ‘makes substantial danger to reputation apparent.’ ” Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., supra at 346 and *444348. The court did not mandate that the states abandon the “actual malice” approach as applied to private individuals, but rather, on page 347, held that
so long as they do not impose liability without fault, the States may define for themselves the appropriate standard of liability for a publisher or broadcaster of defamatory falsehood injurious to a private individual.
(Italics ours.) We agree that the “actual malice” standard, when applied to private individuals, imposes a totally unacceptable burden, and therefore a change is required.
The basic policy underlying the New York Times standard was the need to perpetuate an uninhibited “marketplace of ideas,” by providing a near absolute constitutional protection to the press. However, this marketplace approach fails to recognize that “there is no constitutional value in false statements of fact. Neither the intentional lie nor the careless error materially advances society’s interest in ‘uninhibited, robust, and wide-open’ debate on public issues.” Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., supra at 340; Tilton v. Cowles Publishing Co., supra. Furthermore, prior to the advent of New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, supra, this state had consistently held that “[m]alice is not a necessary element of civil libel, and is immaterial upon the issue of whether published words are defamatory.” Purvis v. Bremer’s, Inc., 54 Wn.2d 743, 755, 344 P.2d 705 (1959). See also Pitts v. Spokane Chronicle Co., 63 Wn.2d 763, 388 P.2d 976, 9 A.L.R.3d 550 (1964); Luna de la Peunte v. Seattle Times Co., 186 Wash. 618, 59 P.2d 753, 105 A.L.R. 932 (1936); Wilson v. Sun Publishing Co., 85 Wash. 503, 148 P. 774 (1915). Moreover, the only defenses available were “truth, consent, absolute privilege, qualified or conditional privilege, and fair comment . . .” Jolly v. Fossum, 63 Wn.2d 537, 541, 388 P.2d 139 (1964). It was not until New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, supra, that we retracted from this firmly established policy of allowing a citizen open access to the courts in order to seek damages from those who published false and defamatory statements. Thus, it is totally consistent with our prior decisions to now return to a more fair and *445equitable standard to be applied to this classification of plaintiffs. Therefore, we hold that a private individual, who is neither a public figure nor official, may recover actual damages for a defamatory falsehood, concerning a subject of general or public interest, where the substance makes substantial dangers to reputation apparent, on a showing that in publishing the statement, the defendant knew or, in the exercise of reasonable care, should have known that the statement was false, or would create a false impression in some material respect.
The reason for distinguishing private individuals from public officials and figures is twofold. First, both public officials and public figures have greater access to the various “channels of effective communication and hence have a more realistic opportunity to counteract false statements than private individuals normally enjoy.” Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 344, 41 L. Ed. 2d 789, 94 S. Ct. 2997 (1974); Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts, supra; Rosenbloom v. Metromedia, Inc., supra; Tilton v. Cowles Publishing Co., supra at 729 (dissenting opinion by Justice Rosellini). However, even if this form of self-help was freely available to all classifications of plaintiffs, years of experience have firmly established the basic fact that “ ‘the truth never catches up with the lie.’ ” Tilton v. Cowles Publishing Co., supra at 714. Second, in formulating the proper standard to be applied, a more important consideration is the basic distinction between the nature of the state’s interest in protecting private individuals as opposed to public individuals in defamation cases. Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., supra at 344. The state’s interest in protecting a public official is far outweighed by the countervailing need of the public to be informed as to anything which bears on that individual’s fitness for office. By seeking public office, this person willingly exposes his life to public scrutiny. Those classified as public figures stand in a similar position, since this category is the result of the individual having assumed one of two roles. As noted in Gertz at page 351:
In some instances an individual may achieve such perva*446sive fame or notoriety that he becomes a public figure for all purposes and in all contexts. More commonly, an individual voluntarily injects himself or is drawn into a particular public controversy and thereby becomes a public figure for a limited range of issues. In either case such persons assume special prominence in the resolution of public questions.
(Italics ours.) Therefore, with regard to public officials and public figures, the First Amendment compels a greater tolerance since they have, through their conduct, intentionally placed themselves before the public with full knowledge of the attention accorded individuals in their position by the media, and the public’s need to be fully informed is at its maximum. However, a private individual has not, through his conduct, invited either the increased scrutinization nor the risk of being defamed through a careless error. Since he has not relinquished any of his interest in protecting his reputation
he has a more compelling call on the courts for redress of injury inflicted by defamatory falsehood. Thus, private individuals are not only more vulnerable to injury than public officials and public figures; they are also more deserving of recovery.
Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., supra at 345.
It has been argued by the defense that to reduce the standard first enunciated in New York Times, and subsequently adopted in both Rosenbloom and Miller, will have a “chilling effect” upon the press and, therefore, result in self-censorship. We find this contention to be without merit. It is true that greater caution must now be exercised where the subject of a publication is a private person, yet such a rule is totally justifiable in light of the state’s overriding interest in providing a realistic remedy to an otherwise helpless private citizen. It cannot be gainsaid that.any social value derived through a defamatory falsehood pertaining to a truly private individual is “clearly outweighed by the social interest in order and morality.” Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568, 572, 86 L. Ed. 1031, 62 S. Ct. 766 (1942). Furthermore, since erroneous statements of fact *447are inevitable, this newly announced standard does not require the media to guarantee the absolute accuracy of their publications, as would be required under a strict liability scheme. However, just as the First Amendment will not tolerate a strict liability criteria, neither will this State’s strong policy, providing a means of compensation to private citizens for injuries to their reputations, tolerate the giving of a near-absolute immunity to the media. Thus, these two competing values must be tempered so that neither social requisite be destroyed. We believe the standard we have adopted today will achieve this necessary balance.
Finally, the element most likely to give rise to self-censorship is the uncontrolled discretion of juries to award damages which reflect their disdain for the publishing of an unpopular opinion, rather than a realistic level of compensation for the actual injury sustained. Therefore, as stated in Gertz, juries shall be limited to awarding damages for only actual injuries sustained, and shall not be allowed to presume the existence of any damages in the absence of a finding that the statement was published with knowledge that it was false or with a reckless disregard for the truth. While damages may be presumed upon a finding of “actual malice,” under no circumstances will we allow a jury to award punitive damages. Herein lies the true protection afforded by the First Amendment, for, as Mr. Justice Blackmun noted in his concurring opinion in Gertz at page 354:
By removing the specters of presumed and punitive damages in the absence'of New York Times malice, the Court eliminates significant and powerful motives for self-censorship that otherwise are present in the traditional libel action.
We therefore hold that a private individual need no longer establish “actual malice” in order to recover actual damages resulting from publication of a defamatory falsehood, and insofar as Miller v. Argus Publishing Co., 79 Wn.2d 816, 490 P.2d 101 (1971), is inconsistent with this opinion, it is hereby overruled.
*448 A subsidiary issue is whether the rule we announce today shall be applied retroactively or prospectively. While this question most frequently arises in the areas of criminal process, constitutional rights, and statutory interpretation, it is by no means limited to these fields. In Chevron Oil Co. v. Huson, 404 U.S. 97, 106, 30 L. Ed. 2d 296, 92 S. Ct. 349 (1971), the United States Supreme Court set forth the following three factors to serve as the proper test for determining retroactivity in civil suits:
First, the decision to be applied nonretroactively must establish a new principle of law, either by overruling clear past precedent on which litigants may have relied . . . or by deciding an issue of first impression whose resolution was not clearly foreshadowed . . . Second, it has been stressed that “we must . . . weigh the merits and demerits in each case by looking to the prior history of the rule in question, its purpose and effect, and whether retrospective operation will further or retard its operation.” . . . Finally, we have weighed the inequity imposed by retroactive application, for “[wjhere a decision of this Court could produce substantial inequitable results if applied retroactively, there is ample basis in our cases for avoiding the ‘injustice or hardship’ by a holding of nonretroactivity.”
(Citations omitted.) Applying these factors to the instant case, we hold that retroactive application is warranted.
The utilization of a lesser standard than actual malice is certainly not a novel principle of law. As noted earlier, the test which we have adopted merely represents a return to our pre-New York Times rule, insofar as Gertz permits. Furthermore, we question whether the plurality decision in Rosenbloom was in fact relied upon by the media to the degree argued by the defendants. It was the first libel decision since New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 11 L. Ed. 2d 686, 84 S. Ct. 710, 95 A.L.R2d 1412 (1964), which failed to receive the approval of a majority of the court. Therefore, it should have been evident that Rosenbloom did not represent the final word as to the propriety of applying an actual malice standard to private individuals. In fact, Gertz was the first libel case to be heard by the United *449States Supreme Court subsequent to Rosenbloom. The rule adopted by the plurality opinion in Rosenbloom does not constitute a clear precedent of long standing, as contemplated in the above rule, and therefore does not compel a prospective application in the instant case.
The purpose of adopting a negligence criteria is to reassert our legitimate state interest in providing a realistic remedy for private individuals actually injured by a defamatory falsehood. As heretofore stated, it was only as a result of New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, supra, and its progeny, that we varied from our long line of cases providing such a remedy to all classes of defamed individuals. Only through retroactive application can the rule enunciated in this opinion fully effectuate the purpose intended by Gertz and this court. The significance of this factor cannot be underestimated, for while reliance was once considered to be the controlling criteria, recent decisions demonstrate that it has been replaced by the purpose and effect of the civil rule.1 Wilson, Retroactivity in Civil Suits: Link-letter Modified, 42 Fordham L. Rev. 660 (1974). See also Chevron Oil Co. v. Huson, supra; Williams v. United States, 401 U.S. 646, 28 L. Ed. 2d 388, 91 S. Ct. 1148 (1970). Furthermore, absent unique circumstances, we have consistently applied our decisions retroactively whenever the intended purpose was to provide a remedy for an individual who has been tortiously injured and now seeks redress before this court. See, e.g., Memel v. Reimer, 85 Wn.2d 685, 538 P.2d 517 (1975); Freehe v. Freehe, 81 Wn.2d 183, 500 P.2d 771 (1972); cf. Godfrey v. State, 84 Wn.2d 959, 530 P.2d 630 (1975); Blaak v. Davidson, 84 Wn.2d 882, 529 P.2d 1048 (1975).
The final consideration is whether there are sufficient inequities resulting from a retroactive application as to limit the decision to prospective effect only, in spite of *450what the prior factors support. We fail to see how applying this decision retroactively will produce an inequitable result of overriding magnitude. In fact, equity would seem to compel the opposite result, since it is of little solace to an individual who seeks legal redress upon being seriously defamed to be informed that as a result of his efforts, future plaintiffs will no longer be deprived of a remedy due to their inability to establish “actual malice” with convincing clarity, but, as to him, no relief is available. Who better deserves the benefits of an equitable result; the individual whose reputation has been utterly destroyed, or the media who has abused its power and breached its ethical duty to present the general public with the truth in an unbiased and impartial manner? A realistic view of the rights and power of the respective parties surely favors the former. Furthermore, it is most significant that every decision of the United States Supreme Court and this court, from New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, supra, through Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., supra, has been applied retroactively. We find no justifiable reason for departing from this approach in the instant case.
The defendants argue that in any event the broadcast under the facts of this case was substantially true and that the trial court’s decision should therefore be upheld. We find this contention to be premature in view of our announced rule, as the facts must be considered by the trial court under summary judgment, or by the jury if summary judgment be denied, in the light of the rule we have now enunciated.
Therefore, the decision of the trial court is reversed and this cause is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Rosellini, Hamilton, Wright, and Brachtenbach, JJ., concur.
*451Appendix
KING News Service Taskett Story — 1/11/73 Mike James, Reporter
Harriott:
Several Seattle businesses, including some television and radio stations, are looking for an advertising man. He’s gone and he may have some of their money. Here’s Mike James.
A/Roll Film. . . ./
A lot of people are looking for Bill Tas'kett . . . and no one knows where he is.
He’s not at the offices of Taskett and Associates ... an advertising agency on Fairview East. The landlord there says Taskett left without notice — and owed some rent.
Taskett’s not in his apartment. Another man is there. And he says Taskett will be gone six months or more.
Reporter At Courthouse:
We did find something on Bill Taskett in the Clerk’s Office of the King County Courthouse. Allied Stores, which includes the Bon Marche, has filed an action against him, seeking to recover 32 thousand dollars. Allied alleges that Taskett was given the money to pay for advertising on Seattle radio and television. They say he took the money fraudulently for his own use.
So the Bon is out 32 thousand dollars . . . and that’s just the beginning.
A/Roll Film. . . ./
Other advertisers . . . including this car dealer . . . gave Taskett money to pay for advertising on radio and television.
Sources in the industry say the total given is in excess of 60 thousand dollars.
But the stations never got the money. One network affiliate is said to be out nearly 20 thousand dollars.
And there’s not much chance of recovering the money. Before he disappeared, Taskett
*452put his agency into receivership. The receiver says debts may total 100 thousand dollars . . . while assets include a few pieces of office furniture . '. . worth a fraction of the debt.
Reporter On Eastlake:
We can’t say what happened to the money Taskett was paid by his clients . . . but we can help with the question: Where is he?
This is a copy of a letter sent by Taskett asking for a hotel room in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We called the hotel. Taskett was there, but he checked out yesterday. No one knows where he is now.
There is some irony in this whole story. We are told by Taskett’s clients that he went through bankruptcy proceedings a few years ago. Yet they still advanced him money. We asked them why. And they said, “That’s a good question.”
This is Mike James for KING News Service.
Harriott:
Bill Taskett, won’t you please come home.

An exception to the above statement is in the area of contractual relations where the rights of the parties have actually vested. See Lemon v. Kurtzman, 411 U.S. 192, 36 L. Ed. 2d 151, 93 S. Ct. 1463 (1973).