Gore v. Health-Tex, Inc.
| Decision Date | 07 September 1990 |
| Docket Number | HEALTH-TE,INC |
| Citation | 567 So.2d 1307 |
| Parties | 5 IER Cases 1643 Deborah GORE v. 89-782. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
David B. Carnes of Carnes, Wamsley, Waid & Hyman, Gadsden, for appellant.
James C. Stivender of Inzer, Suttle, Swann & Stivender, Gadsden, for appellee.
This is an appeal from a summary judgment entered in favor of Health-Tex, Inc. The appellant, Ms. Deborah Gore, in October 1987, filed a complaint alleging slander and claiming that she was entitled to damages arising out of allegedly defamatory statements, which, she says, she herself was required to publicize, concerning the termination of her employment at Health-Tex.
In 1986, Ms. Gore was employed by Health-Tex to operate a sewing machine at its plant. Approximately one month after beginning work, she began having pains in her back and shoulder and, upon consulting a physician, she learned that she was suffering from fibrositis, an inflammation of the fibers under the skin. The physician gave her injections and oral medication and advised her to slow down her arm movements. The company was never notified of her condition, which disappeared after approximately two months. Ms. Gore left the employment of Health-Tex sometime thereafter. Subsequently, Ms. Gore was rehired by Health-Tex and, pursuant to company policy, she was interviewed by the company nurse regarding any health problems she had had while working with Health-Tex in the past and any other problems she had encountered since her previous employment there. Ms. Gore did not mention her fibrositis.
After working for Health-Tex for approximately one month, and while still in her probationary period with the company, Ms. Gore experienced a recurrence of her fibrositis. When she consulted the nurse regarding her symptoms, she explained that she had had the condition during her previous employment with Health-Tex. She was given some anti-inflammatory drugs and the nurse adjusted the chair at her work station to ease the strain on her back. Shortly after reporting her condition to the nurse, Ms. Gore was called in by managing personnel at Health-Tex and was asked to resign. When she refused to do so, she was terminated for falsifying company records, i.e., for not revealing her previous health condition when she was rehired. When applying for other jobs, Ms. Gore alleged, she was required to put on her application as the reason she left her previous employment that she was fired for "falsifying company records." Eventually, she applied for unemployment compensation and a referee determined that her acts did not rise to the level of dishonesty or criminal acts so as to prevent her from receiving compensation pursuant to § 25-4-78(3)(a), Code of Alabama (1975). 1 Ms. Gore thereafter filed her complaint, alleging slander. The trial court granted Health-Tex's motion for summary judgment. We affirm.
Ms. Gore contends that she was required to publicize to potential employers that she had been terminated from her job at Health-Tex for "falsifying company records." In addition, she argues that a statement made to a prospective employer by an employee at Health-Tex also constituted "publication."
First, we note that both parties agree that any publication made between a previous employer and a prospective employer is protected by a conditional privilege, pursuant to the following test:
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Related State Torts
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