McDermott v. Hughley

COLE, Judge.

The basic question presented in this case is whether the reports of a mental health care professional, requested by an employer and bearing on the fitness of an employee for employment, enjoy the defense of an absolute or qualified privilege in a defamation suit. If an absolute or qualified privilege pertains, then the trial court was correct in granting summary judgment. If no such defense is available, then the trial judge erred and a trial must be conducted.

The characters giving rise to this issue we introduce in the following recitation of facts. David Eugene Hughley applied…