Royer v. Steinberg

• Decision Date: 15 March 1979
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: Neal ROYER, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Ralph J. STEINBERG et al., Defendants and Appellants. Civ. 39356.

Page 499

153 Cal.Rptr. 499

90 Cal.App.3d 490

Neal ROYER, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Ralph J. STEINBERG et al., Defendants and Appellants.

Civ. 39356.

Court of Appeal, First District, Division 4, California.

March 15, 1979.

Rehearing Denied April 11, 1979.

Hearing Denied May 30, 1979.

Gerald Z. Marer, Michael R. Flicker, Alan G. Marer, Keogh, Marer & Flicker, Palo Alto, for defendants and appellants

C. Michael Smith, William T. Brooks, Charles R. Reed, Campbell, Warburton, Britton, Fitzsimmons & Smith, San Jose, for plaintiff and respondent.

William H. Alsup, James P. Bennett, Morrison & Foerster, Amitai Schwartz, Alan L. Schlosser, Margaret C. Crosby, American Civil Liberties Union of Northern Cal., San Francisco, for amicus curiae American Civil Liberties Union of Northern Cal.

W. Craig Biddle, Robert G. Walters, John L. Bukey, Biddle, Walters & Bukey, Sacramento, for the amicus curiae California School Boards Ass'n.

DRUMMOND, Associate Justice. ^*

Defendants-appellants Ralph J. Steinberg, Richard MacQuiddy and Eleanor Graham-Armstrong (appellants) appeal from a judgment against them and in favor of plaintiff-respondent Neal Royer (Royer) in the amount of $200,000 jointly in compensatory damages and $2,000, $2,000 and $300 respectively in punitive damages. The

judgment is the result of an action for libel and conspiracy to libel stemming from statements made by appellants in a motion passed by them as members of the board of trustees of a school district.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

At all times pertinent to the instant controversy, appellants were the elected trustees of the Campbell Union School District, serving without compensation. Royer began teaching in the school district in 1948, became a principal in 1952, and was appointed superintendent in 1965.

Shortly prior to the April 15, 1969, trustee election in which appellants Steinberg and Graham-Armstrong were running, certain flyers circulated throughout the district purporting to originate from the Campbell Elementary Teachers Association (CETA). The flyers made false and derogatory statements ostensibly in support of the election and reelection of appellants Steinberg and Graham-Armstrong. In fact, CETA had nothing to do with the flyers. Two more fake flyers were sent during the special school board election campaign of February 1970 in which appellant MacQuiddy was a candidate. One flyer purported to originate from CETA; the other falsely purported to be from Gordon Martin, president of the West Valley Federation of Teachers. Both again supposedly supported MacQuiddy's candidacy, but contained statements making MacQuiddy and Steinberg look ridiculous.

At the request of Gordon Martin, the board appointed a citizens group to ascertain the source of the fake flyers.

Shortly thereafter, Martin and Robert Persky, president of CETA, met with Inspector Bobby Martin ¹ of the U.S. Postal Department and gave him copies of the flyers and several envelopes in which they had been mailed. In response to an inquiry by Inspector Martin, they told him they suspected Royer of being the typist because of his active opposition to appellants' candidacies in the 1969 and 1970 campaigns. Inspector Martin asked for samples of Royer's typing, which were furnished to him.

Gordon Martin testified that Inspector Martin told him on at least two subsequent occasions that the lab reports had confirmed that all three flyers were typed by the same person, and that the typing on the flyers and the typing on Royer's exemplars were the same. The inspector had also said that there was "no question in his mind but that Mr. Royer had typed the publications." Steinberg, who was appointed board liaison to the citizens' inquiry group, testified that Inspector Martin made identical statements to him. Both Martin and Steinberg also testified that Inspector Martin told them he had advised Royer of his constitutional rights and confronted him with the evidence; that Royer had almost "broken down" and confessed, but in the end meekly denied it.

The deposition testimony of Inspector Martin, which was introduced into evidence, was that he could not recall telling either Steinberg or Martin that in his opinion Royer was the typist. Inspector Martin did concede that he told the men that there were "similarities" between Royer's exemplars and the flyers and that it was "possible" that Royer was the typist. He also admitted confronting Royer and accusing him of being the typist. He said that Martin later called and asked him about the confrontation and that he simply told him that Royer denied it.

On October 1, 1970, the school board met in executive session to meet with Postal Inspector Meier, who had been assigned to the investigation in the aftermath of Inspector Martin's promotion and transfer to another department. At the meeting, Meier allowed the postal investigation file to be passed among the board members. All three appellant board members testified that they saw a memo in the file stating that it was the author's opinion that Royer had typed and distributed the flyers. Board members Ruscigno and Gilliland however, could not recall seeing any such document in the file.

By this time the relationship between appellant board members and Royer, which had already deteriorated over other matters, reached crisis proportions. An executive session was held on October 5, 1970, during which Royer offered to resign if it would help the district. A due process hearing, at which the board would receive evidence and rule upon the charges against Royer, was favored by appellants, but board members Ruscigno and Gilliland were opposed.

On October 8, 1970, the board held a public meeting and voted 3-2 to demote Royer from his position as superintendent and reassign him as principal. Appellants voted in favor of the motion, while Ruscigno and Gilliland voted against it. Pursuant to the instructions of county counsel, the reasons for Royer's demotion were kept confidential.

On November 17, 1970, Royer wrote a letter to the board requesting a statement of reasons for his demotion. An executive session attended by Royer and his attorney was held on November 30, during which MacQuiddy, the president of the board, began to orally state the reasons for the action, but was admonished by county counsel to remain silent. Royer's counsel then told the board that he wanted the reasons for Royer's demotion in writing.

After several drafts prepared by county counsel, the board sent a confidential letter to Royer stating the reasons for his demotion dated January 19, 1971. The letter enumerated several grounds for the board's action, including participation in preparing and distributing the fake election flyers, improper public criticism of the business manager, failure to carry out responsibilities in the supervision and management of district funds and disharmonious relations with the district board, staff and employee organizations.

On March 8, 1971, Royer wrote "(a)n open letter to the taxpayers and employees of the Campbell Union School District." The letter Reproduced the board's confidential January 19, 1971, letter in its entirety and contained Royer's point-by-point response to each of the charges enumerated therein. Royer "challenged" the board's president "to prove" the charge of improper election activities. Royer personally delivered this letter to the Campbell Press, a local newspaper, where it was published on March 10, 1971. The letter was soon thereafter published in the San Jose Mercury, the San Jose News and the Saratoga Press.

On March 11, 1971, the board passed a motion stating that it welcomed the fact that Royer had released to the public the January 19 letter, "thereby relieving the Board from the obligation to remain silent on the subject." It went on to state that a detailed reply to Royer's open letter would be forthcoming at the earliest opportunity. There was no objection made by Royer to the proposed "detailed reply."

The board issued its promised reply to Royer by motion, passed in a public meeting on March 25, 1971. The motion was adopted by a 3-2 vote, appellants voting in favor and Ruscigno and Gilliland voting against. The motion contained the following language, which is the subject of the instant lawsuit: "IT IS A FACT established with reasonable certainty by evidence and information contained in the Postal Inspector's file and which was made known by the Postal Inspector in the course of his investigation, that Royer typed and distributed the anonymous letters purporting to represent the views of the A.B.C. unit of C.E.T.A. and Gordon Martin of W.V.F.T. in connection with the Board elections of April 15, 1969 and February 17, 1970. (P) IT IS A FACT that these letters contained misrepresentations of fact. Their apparent purpose was to cause public confusion and to influence the outcome of the elections by making it appear that C.E.T.A. and Gordon Martin of W.V.F.T. and various citizens in our community were promoting a number of ridiculous and outrageous demands, and that certain candidates would work towards their fulfillment. In doing so, the sender of the letters was holding up to ridicule these candidates, C.E.T.A., Gordon Martin of W.V.F.T. and various citizens in our community." The motion concluded by stating that the fact that distribution of the fake flyer-letters failed to constitute illegal activity did not make the activity permissible: "The Board majority does not subscribe to the theory that any conduct by a superintendent is permissible so long as it does not violate the law. . . . If he (Royer) chooses . . . to engage in activity such as the production and distribution of anonymous and scurrilous letters purporting to represent teaching organizations and representatives to influence elections, he not only materially breaches his contract, but he demeans and degrades the office of District Superintendent. The Board majority does not condone such...