Question

Annie lists Mike, her former supervisor at Startup Inc. as a reference in her application for an open position at Tech Corp. When the Tech Corp. hiring manager calls Mike to ask about Annie, Mike falsely states that Annie was fired for leaking trade secrets. Mike actually knew that Annie quit because she was unhappy with how the business was being run, but was concerned her comments would get back to investors. Tech Corp. decides not to hire Annie based on Mike’s statement. Does Annie have a defamation claim?

Group of answer choices

A. Yes, because Mike knowingly provided a false statement that hurt Annie’s reputation by preventing her from being hired by Tech Corp.

B. Yes, but only if Mike made this false statement to everyone who called to ask about Annie’s work history.

C. No, because Mike has a qualified privilege.

D. No, since Annie could have chosen not to list Mike as a reference.

Answer 1

Let's first understand what is "Defamation Claim"

Defamation happens when someone makes an intentionally false statement about an individual which harms the person. It is a personal injury that causes financial loss or emotional stress.

In the given question Mike makes an intentionally false claim about Annie which hurts Annie's chances of getting a new job.

Option A. Correct, Mike falsified the information while giving reference to a prospective employer for Annie. This was intentional as he was well aware of the reasons why Annie left the job at her previous organization. So it makes a defamation claim because Mike's statement caused the personal injury to Annie in terms of losing a job opportunity.

Option B. Incorrect, giving false information even once which caused damage to Annie's reputation and loss of job opportunity is sufficient to make a defamation claim. Mike does not necessarily have to make a false claim to everyone to defame Annie.

Option C. Incorrect, First let's understand what is a qualified privilege. Qualified privilege is protection or immunity against any defamation that may arise out of acts which are done as part of one's legal or moral duty, and act is free of malice or intent to harm. As per the statement given in the question, Mike knew the actual reason why Annie left her previous organization, still, Mike gave the wrong statement which could be considered malice.

Option D. Incorrect, Because Annie gave Mike as reference does not give any right to Mike to defame her reputation by making a false claim. Mike could have refused to give reference instead of giving false information.