Wilson v. The Daily Gazette Company, No. 31045 (W.Va. June 13, 2003)
The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has ruled that a high school athlete is not a public figure for purposes of his defamation suit against a local newspaper. Quincy Wilson was a star athlete at Weir High School. Moments after his basketball team won the state championship, his team began celebrating in front of the losing school’s fans. In the aftermath, a rumor circulated that Quincy had exposed himself during the celebration. The Daily Gazette, a Charleston newspaper, reported the rumor in an article about Weir’s apparent lack of sportsmanship. Quincy filed suit, claiming defamation of character. The Gazette argued that Quincy should be considered a public figure, thereby requiring him to meet the more difficult burden of proving that the paper acted with actual malice when it published the rumor. The paper claimed that: 1) Quincy’s notoriety as a high school athlete made him an “all-purpose” public figure under the law; 2) his injecting himself in the public controversy about sportsmanship prior to the newspaper’s report made him a “limited purpose” public figure; or 3) his having been thrust into the controversy made him an “involuntary” public figure. The court rejected these arguments, finding that Quincy’s notoriety as a high school athlete was insufficient to establish that he occupied a position of such “persuasive power and influence” as to be considered an all-purpose public figure and that his name only came to public attention after the paper reported the rumor.
Wilson v. The Daily Gazette Company, No. 31045 (W.Va. June 13, 2003)
Full opinion: http://www.state.wv.us/wvsca/docs/spring03/31045.htm