Cyprien v. Bd. of Sup'Rs ex rel. U. of La.

• Decision Date: 21 January 2009
• Docket Number: No. 2008-CC-1067.,2008-CC-1067.
• Citation: 5 So.3d 862
• Parties: Glynn R. CYPRIEN v. BOARD OF SUPERVISORS for the UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA SYSTEM, Nelson L. Schexnayder, Jr., and Elwood Broussard.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

5 So.3d 862

Glynn R. CYPRIEN v. BOARD OF SUPERVISORS for the UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA SYSTEM, Nelson L. Schexnayder, Jr., and Elwood Broussard.

No. 2008-CC-1067.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

January 21, 2009.

Rehearing Denied March 6, 2009.

James D. Caldwell, Attorney General, Oats & Hudson, Stephen J. Oats, Michael McGrath Duran, St., Special Assistant Attorneys General, for applicant.

Garrison, Yount, Lormand, Forte & Mulcahy, Lyon H. Garrison, Scott Parker Yount, Darrin L. Forte, Kevin F. Truxillo,

G. Karl Bernard & Associates, G. Karl Bernard, for respondent.

PER CURIAM.^*

At issue in this case is whether the district court erred denying defendants' motion for summary judgment on plaintiffs defamation and bad faith breach of contract claims. For the reasons that follow, we find defendants are entitled to judgment as a matter of law, and therefore reverse the judgment of the district court.

UNDERLYING FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Glenn Cyprien worked as an assistant basketball coach at various universities since 1991. In April 2004, Mr. Cyprien applied for the position of head coach of the men's basketball team with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette ("ULL").

On April 25, 2004, Mr. Cyprien interviewed with Nelson J. Schexnayder, Jr., ULL's Athletic Director, and Anthony Daniel, a member of ULL's Basketball Head Coach Committee. After the interview, Mr. Cyprien asked one of his student workers at Oklahoma State University ("OSU")¹ to get a copy of his resumé from his office drawer and fax it to ULL. On April 28, 2004 and again on May 1, 2004, Mr. Schexnayder and Mr. Daniel received copies of Mr. Cyprien's resumé by fax. These resumé copies indicated Mr. Cyprien obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio ("UTSA") in May 1990. In fact, Mr. Cyprien attended UTSA between 1987 and 1990, but never graduated from UTSA.²

Thereafter, ULL offered the position to Mr. Cyprien with an effective hire date of May 19, 2004. As part of the administrative hiring process required by university policy, Mr. Cyprien filled out a Personnel Data Booklet Form. In completing these documents, Mr. Cyprien accurately indicated that he obtained degrees from Lacrosse University, and that he attended UTSA. In contrast with the information provided in the faxed resumés, nothing in the Personnel Data Booklet Form indicated that he received a degree from UTSA.

On July 16, 2004, The Times-Picayune newspaper published an article stating that Mr. Cyprien "did not graduate from the University of Texas at San Antonio as he claimed on his resumé, according to the university registrar's office." That same day, ULL fired Mr. Cyprien on the ground that he lied about his academic credentials on his resumé.

Subsequently, Mr. Cyprien filed the instant suit against ULL and its officials (collectively referred to hereinafter as "ULL"), seeking damages for defamation and bad faith breach of contract. Essentially, Mr. Cyprien alleged that although an incorrect resumé was mistakenly faxed to ULL by one of his student workers at OSU, he hand-delivered a correct resumé upon his initial interview with ULL officials on April 25, 2004.³ Mr. Cyprien also noted that he provided ULL with accurate information at the time he completed the Personnel Data Booklet Form.

Mr. Cyprien alleged ULL officials falsely accused him of committing "resumé fraud." According to the petition, Mr. Schexnayder told reporters that plaintiff lied on his resumé, overstated his qualifications, and otherwise failed to provide ULL with accurate information concerning his educational background. In addition, Mr. Cyprien alleged that Elwood Broussard, ULL's Director of Personnel Services, made similar defamatory statements in correspondence to the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission regarding Mr. Cyprien's claim for unemployment benefits.⁴

ULL filed a motion for summary judgment seeking dismissal of the claims. ULL stated that it was undisputed Mr. Cyprien submitted false academic credentials to the university in the fax transmissions of April 28, 2004 and May 1, 2004. Therefore, ULL contended it had a reasonable basis to believe he committed resum fraud, even though he may have also provided an accurate resumé at a different time. According to ULL, the mere fact that Mr. Cyprien did not personally fax the wrong resumé was irrelevant. ULL pointed out that Mr. Cyprien consistently submitted resumés containing the same misrepresentation to various universities over the past fourteen years.

Mr. Cyprien opposed the motion. Essentially, he argued that he provided ULL with accurate information regarding his educational background, as evidenced by the information provided in the Personnel Data Booklet Form. Additionally, he maintained that he hand-delivered a correct resumé upon his initial interview with officials of ULL on April 25, 2004.⁵ In support of his position, Mr. Cyprien presented an affidavit of Helene A. Thill, a co-worker from OSU, who stated that on April 23, 2004 she prepared an interview packet for Mr. Cyprien containing various documents in preparation for his interview with ULL, including an accurate resumé. Accordingly, Mr. Cyprien argued summary judgment was inappropriate at this time because of the factual dispute.

After a hearing, the district court denied ULL's motion for summary judgment. In oral reasons for judgment, the district court stated:

Well, this case defies description, I guess is a good way to put it. To say that Mr. Cyprien is credibility challenged puts it mildly. But be that as it may, this is a case with him and ULL. What he submitted after the inaccurate information was transmitted is an issue of fact, slim, but in summary judgment if it's close then you have to rule in favor of the plaintiff.

So I'm going to deny the Motion for Summary Judgment. And the basis of it is what information was transmitted to the university after the inaccurate transmission was faxed. And that's what this case is going to turn on.

Now, in terms of defamation, truth is an absolute defense. And that's a real, real, real close call there, real close call, plaintiffs. Because you know it's apparent to me what Mr. Cyprien said previously and at this juncture, but, and good faith, he's going to have a real uphill battle there, make no mistakes.

Defendants applied for supervisory review of this ruling. The court of appeal subsequently denied ULL's application for supervisory writs.

Upon ULL's application, we granted certiorari to consider the correctness of that decision. Cyprien v. Board of Supervisors, 08-1067 (La.9/26/08), 992 So.2d 972.

DISCUSSION

A motion for summary judgment will be granted "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to material fact, and that mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." La.Code Civ. P. art. 966(B). Pursuant to this article, the burden of producing evidence at the hearing on the motion for summary judgment is on the mover (normally the defendant), who can ordinarily meet that burden by submitting affidavits or by pointing out the lack of factual support for an essential element in the opponent's case. At that point, the party who bears the burden of persuasion at trial (usually the plaintiff) must come forth with evidence (affidavits or discovery responses) which demonstrates he or she will be able to meet the burden at trial. Once the motion for summary judgment has been properly supported by the moving party, the failure of the non-moving party to produce evidence of a material factual dispute mandates the granting of the motion. Wright v. Louisiana Power & Light, 06-1181 (La.3/9/07), 951 So.2d 1058; Babin v. Winn-Dixie Louisiana, 00-0078 (La.6/30/00), 764 So.2d 37.

In the instant case, defendants assert they have established a lack of factual support for Mr. Cyprien's defamation and bad faith breach of contract claims, because they have pointed out that Mr. Cyprien submitted a false resumé to ULL. Therefore, we now turn to an examination of the defamation and bad faith claims to determine if defendants have satisfied their burden of establishing they are entitled to summary judgment.

Defamation

In Costello v. Hardy, 03-1146, p. 12 (La.1/21/04), 864 So.2d 129, 139, we discussed the elements of the tort of defamation:

Defamation is a tort which involves the invasion of a person's interest in his or her reputation and good name. Fitzgerald v. Tucker, 98-2313, p. 10 (La.6/29/99), 737 So.2d 706, 715; Trentecosta v. Beck, 96-2388, p. 10 (La.10/21/97), 703 So.2d 552, 559; Sassone v. Elder, 626 So.2d 345, 350 (La. 1993). "Four elements are necessary to establish a defamation cause of action: (1) a false and defamatory statement concerning another; (2) an unprivileged publication to a third party; (3) fault (negligence or greater) on the part of the publisher; and (4) resulting injury." Trentecosta, 96-2388 at 10, 703 So.2d at 559 (citing RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS § 558 (1977)). The fault requirement is often set forth in the jurisprudence as malice, actual or implied. See, Cangelosi v. Schwegmann Bros. Giant Super Markets, 390 So.2d 196, 198 (La.1980) (which also considers falsity as a fifth and separate element); 12 WILLIAM E. CRAWFORD, LOUISIANA CIVIL LAW TREATISE: TORT LAW § 17.4 at 312 (2000). Thus, in order to prevail on a defamation claim, a plaintiff must prove "that the defendant, with actual malice or other fault, published a false statement with defamatory words which caused plaintiff damages." Trentecosta, 96-2388 at 10 703 So.2d at 559 (quoting Sassone, 626 So.2d at 350).

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Finally, even when a plaintiff makes a prima facie showing of the...