Need to Know:
McCoy v. Johnson, No. 1 CA-CV 21-0676, (Ariz. Ct. App. Dec. 8, 2022) (Not for Publication)
Facts: Plaintiffs, 3 prior board members, sued a homeowner for defamation alleging the homeowner:
The plaintiffs, former board members, challenge the dismissal of their defamation claims against a homeowner.
Trial Court: The court granted the Defendant’s motion to dismiss finding that the “Plaintiffs were limited purpose public figures ‘by reason of their service on the Board’ … [and that the] statements, as alleged in the complaint, were ‘statements of opinion, not actionable as defamation.’” The Plaintiffs appealed.
Arizona Court of Appeals: The Plaintiffs claimed that the trial court erred by finding them “limited purpose public figures” because of their service on the Board; by not finding that the Arizona Planned Communities Act Planned_Communities_Act.pdf (azre.gov) excluded them from being governmental entities; and because the application of the trial court decision would imply that any person sitting on a private board would then be a limited public figure. The Court of Appeals shot down each of these defenses by holding that:
The Court of Appeals also found that it could decide as a matter of law whether a person is a public figure and that the Plaintiffs complaint failed to allege facts “to show the statement contained objectively verifiable statements of fact relating to [the Plaintiffs] that could convey a defamatory meaning.” In support of its holding affirming the trial court, the Court of Appeals cited several other cases from California, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Wyoming that have determined that board members in a large homeowners’ association can be treated as limited purpose public figures.
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