Arko Plumbing Corp. v. Rudd

Under Florida’s absolute litigation privilege, a defendant can slander the plaintiff and lie to her and the court, and still be absolutely immune from a later lawsuit for defamation, tortious interference with a business relationship, and even violations of federal consumer protection statutes, as long as the slander and lies were made in the courtroom or during the formal discovery process and had some relation to the case. The trial court in this case extended the absolute privilege to (1) the defendants accessing the plaintiffs password-protected vehicle tracking system, and (2) their…