Clapp v. Olympic View Publishing Co.

¶1 Stephen Clapp and Sequim Valley Ranch appeal the dismissal of their defamation action against Olympic View Publishing. The defamation action *473centered on Olympic View’s publication of a Sequim Valley employee’s allegations, contained in a petition for a protective order, that Clapp had pressured employees to commit penury in support of Sequim Valley in another lawsuit. The trial court ruled that the fair reporting privilege protected Olympic View’s publication of any possibly defamatory statements the employee made in her pleadings. Because the allegedly defamatory article is an accurate…