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Buckhannon v. U.S. West Communications Inc.3/21/1996
Plaintiff, Robert L. Buckhannon, appeals a summary judgment entered in favor of defendant, U.S. West Communications, Inc., dismissing his claims for intentional interference with contract, malicious prosecution, and abuse of process. We affirm the trial court's dismissal of the intentional interference with contract claim, but reverse its dismissal of plaintiff's claims for malicious prosecution and abuse of process, and remand those claims for further proceedings.
I.
While Buckhannon was riding a bicycle in March of 1990, a U.S. West truck swerved into his path. Although he was not struck by the vehicle, Buckhannon claims to have injured his shoulder and knee in avoiding a collision. Buckhannon then filed a claim with U.S. West, who was self-insured, for no-fault (PIP) benefits and also filed a claim for benefits with his disability insurance carrier, Monarch Life Insurance Company.
When U.S. West refused to pay the PIP benefits, the matter went before an arbitration panel in March of 1991. Buckhannon testified at the hearing as to the circumstances of the incident and his alleged injuries. His then girlfriend who had witnessed the incident corroborated his testimony. The panel found in favor of Buckhannon, awarding unpaid treatment expenses, treble damages, interest, and attorney fees.
In January of 1991, prior to the PIP arbitration, Buckhannon, a chiropractor, filed a personal injury suit against U.S. West and the truck driver, claiming that his injuries had caused his total and permanent disability in his profession, in that he was no longer able to perform manipulation treatments to the extent that he had prior to his injuries.
As part of its trial preparation, U.S. West took the deposition of Buckhannon's former girlfriend. She recanted the majority of the testimony she had given at the PIP arbitration and stated that Buckhannon's injuries were preexisting. Shortly thereafter, Buckhannon's personal injury suit was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice.
Prior to the dismissal, an investigator employed by U.S. West's in-house counsel contacted Monarch to inquire into the disability payments being made to Buckhannon. The investigator allegedly informed Monarch that Buckhannon was not disabled, had filed fraudulent tax returns, had accepted kickbacks, had committed billing fraud in his practice, and questioned why Monarch was still paying benefits to Buckhannon. Monarch thereafter ceased the disability payments pending investigation of these issues.
Monarch sued Buckhannon in September 1992, seeking a declaratory judgment and rescission of the insurance policy; Buckhannon filed his own suit against Monarch for breach of duty of good faith, breach of contract, and other claims. The cases were consolidated, and Monarch and Buckhannon subsequently entered into a confidential settlement.
Based on the recanted testimony of Buckhannon's former girlfriend and the voluntary dismissal of his personal injury claims, U.S. West sought sanctions against Buckhannon in June of 1992, claiming that his lawsuit against the company was substantially frivolous, groundless, and vexatious. This claim proceeded to arbitration, Buckhannon prevailed, and no sanctions were awarded.
Shortly before commencement of the sanctions arbitration, Buckhannon filed this suit based upon U.S. West's remarks and allegations about him in its contacts with Monarch. Buckhannon asserted claims for tortious interference with contractual relations, libel and slander per se, libel and slander per quod, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. After the arbitrator denied U.S. West's claim for sanctions, Buckhannon added claims fo
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