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Batson v. Shiflett3/12/1992
nied, 459 U.S. 989, 103 S.Ct. 344, 74 L.Ed.2d 384 (1982). Petitioners argue that in the context of a heated labor dispute, the statements alleged cannot be found defamatory. Furthermore, they contend that the record contains no clear and convincing proof that they knowingly published false statements or published the statements with "actual malice." We address each of these contentions below after our own independent examination of the whole record. Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of U.S., Inc., 466 U.S. 485, 511, 104 S.Ct. 1949, 1965, 80 L.Ed.2d 502, 523 (1984). See A.S. Abell Co. v. Barnes, 258 Md. 56, 72, 265 A.2d 207, 216 (1970), cert. denied, 403 U.S. 921, 91 S.Ct. 2224, 29 L.Ed.2d 700 (1971).
A. DEFAMATORY MEANING
A defamatory statement is one which tends to expose a person to public scorn, hatred, contempt or ridicule,
thereby discouraging others in the community from having a good opinion of, or from associating or dealing with, that person. Bowie v. Evening News, 148 Md. 569, 574, 129 A. 797, 799 (1925). The threshold question of whether a publication is defamatory in and of itself, or whether, in light of the extrinsic facts, it is reasonably capable of a defamatory interpretation is for the court upon reviewing the statement as a whole; words have different meanings depending on the context in which they are used and a meaning not warranted by the whole publication should not be imputed. Hohman v. A.S. Abell Co., 44 Md. App. 193, 197, 407 A.2d 794, 797 (1979) (reviewing article and concluding that reasonable readers may have concluded the plaintiff was charged with a crime). If words are capable of more than one meaning or a defamatory meaning could be inferred, then the meaning to be attributed to them is a question of fact for the jury. Id. at 198, 407 A.2d at 797. See Fitzgerald, 639 F.2d at 1079. In this case, the trial court determined as a threshold matter that petitioners' statements were capable of a defamatory meaning.
Flyer No. 5 accused Shiflett of misuse of Local 33's funds and challenged Shiflett to answer the charges, stating:
" e think that you ought to answer these specific charges because all of the checks paid to Harmon were signed by you. If Harmon is guilty of misuse of the locals funds then you may be too. A point of interest is that we have just started checking Alvin Shiflett's gas receipts and have already found Mrs. Shiflett charging gas to the local."
By stating that Shiflett should answer petitioners' charges, because Harmon misused the funds and Shiflett signed the checks, it imputes to Shiflett responsibility for Harmon's
actions. The flyer further charges Shiflett directly with misuse by stating that if Harmon is guilty of misuse of the Local's funds, then Shiflett may be too. It then raises a question about gas receipts signed by Shiflett's wife. Petitioners further imply that he misused donated food drive monies: "Perhaps Harmon and Shiflett will tell us what happened to the $3,654.87."
These statements are capable of defamatory meaning, i.e. imparting a meaning from which third persons could infer that Shiflett misused Local 33 funds. When read together with petitioners' statements in other flyers and at meetings that Shiflett committed crimes, these statements manifest a tendency to seriously injure Shiflett's reputation, exposing him to public scorn, hatred, contempt or ridicule. In fact, evidence produced by Shiflett at trial established that Flyer No. 5, in particular, and petitioners' other statements, as a whole, had this effect.
The petiti
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