Thomas Boyd v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company

POOLER, Circuit Judge:

We decide here whether the plaintiff-employee in a defamation lawsuit against his employer may proceed to discovery even though the defendant-employer has a qualified privilege to share evidence of the employee’s wrongdoing with law enforcement. We do so where the employer failed to first verify objective matters entirely within its control. It is well settled that a defendant’s failure to investigate before making defamatory statements does not support a finding of actual malice. See, e.g., Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton, 491 U.S. 657, 666-67, 109 S.Ct.…