O’Connor v. Burungham, No. 20060090 (Utah July 31, 2007)
The Utah Supreme Court has ruled that a high school basketball coach was not a "public official" for purposes of his defamation lawsuit and, therefore, was not required to prove actual malice in order to succeed on his claim. The court also ruled that the defendants who the coach accuses of making defamatory statements enjoy conditional privilege. Michael O’Connor was dismissed as head girls varsity basketball coach at Lehi High School (LHS) after he refused to promise he would not retaliate against players for parental complaints focusing on his actions in connection with an "elite" member of the team. He sued the parents for defamation. The trial court dismissed the case, ruling that the coach was a "public official" and therefore could only succeed if he proved the parents made their statements with "actual malice," a finding the record did not support. Public officials and public figures face a higher standard than do other private citizens for defamation claims, on the theory that weathering public criticism is inherent to public office.
On appeal, the supreme court framed the central issue as whether a high school basketball coach is a public official. In order for a public official to recover damages for a defamatory falsehood related to his official conduct, he must prove that the statement was made with "actual malice," "that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not." This heightened burdens placed on public officials and public figures by the First Amendment define the limits of recovery under state defamation laws. Instead of considering the case in light of Utah’s constitution, the court elected to adopt the principles of the U.S. Supreme Court’s defamation jurisprudence. Under these principle, the coach would not fall within the "public official" category because that standard is "limited to those persons whose scope of responsibilities are likely to influence matters of public policy in the civil, as distinguished from the cultural, educational, or sports realms." To the extent one of the court’s earlier rulings implied that individuals could be thrust into public official status by anything other than the duties demanded of them by their official position, the court overruled that decision.
O’Connor v. Burungham, No. 20060090 (Utah July 31, 2007)