Special Force Ministries v. WCCO Television, CX-97-2220

• Decision Date: 13 October 1998
• Docket Number: No. CX-97-2220,CX-97-2220
• Citation: 584 N.W.2d 789
• Parties: 26 Media L. Rep. 2490 SPECIAL FORCE MINISTRIES, et al., Respondents, v. WCCO TELEVISION, a subsidiary of CBS Inc., et al., Appellants.
• Court: Minnesota Court of Appeals

Page 789

584 N.W.2d 789

26 Media L. Rep. 2490

SPECIAL FORCE MINISTRIES, et al., Respondents, v. WCCO TELEVISION, a subsidiary of CBS Inc., et al., Appellants.

No. CX-97-2220.

Court of Appeals of Minnesota.

Oct. 13, 1998.

Syllabus by the Court

1. When a person has consent to enter premises for the purpose of being a volunteer and that person secretly videotapes activities on the premises, a fact issue exists as to whether the person has trespassed by exceeding the scope of consent.

2. A person who applies for a volunteer position and misrepresents that she is unemployed when she is actually employed by a news station may be liable for fraud.

3. When the district court has directed that an amended complaint be filed to state claims with more particularity and the court then denies summary judgment on those claims, the defamation claim is limited to the precise statements set out in the amended complaint.

Paul A. Sortland, Sortland Law Office, Minneapolis, MN (for respondents)

John P. Borger, Eric E. Jorstad, Faegre & Benson LLP, Minneapolis, MN; and Susanna M. Lowy, Anthony M. Bongiorno, New York, N.Y. (for appellants)

Considered and decided by KLAPHAKE, P.J., and SHUMAKER and NORTON, JJ.

OPINION

NORTON, Judge. ^*

Respondents brought this action alleging fraud, trespass, and defamation, after appellants broadcast a news story about respondents. Appellants moved to dismiss the complaint under Minn. R. Civ. P. 12. The district court denied the motion, but ordered respondents to file an amended complaint stating their claims with more particularity.

Appellants then moved for summary judgment, arguing that dismissal was warranted under Minn.Stat. §§ 554.02-.05 (1996 & Supp.1997). The district court agreed that this statute applied, but concluded that respondents had presented clear and convincing evidence that appellants' conduct was tortious. The district court thus denied appellants' motion for summary judgment. ¹ This court denied appellants' subsequent motion for discretionary review. The matter is now before us on remand from the Minnesota Supreme Court. See Special Force Ministries v. WCCO Television, 576 N.W.2d 746 (Minn. Apr.23, 1998).

We affirm the district court's denial of appellants' motion for summary judgment on all claims, but limit the defamation claim to the specific statements set out in the amended complaint.

FACTS

Respondent Special Force Family Ministries (Special Force) operated residential and nonresidential care facilities for mentally retarded persons in Hennepin and Carver Counties. In the summer of 1995, appellant Lora Johnson, an employee of appellant WCCO, applied for a volunteer position at Special Force's facility in Waconia. She provided Special Force with an application and listed appellants Jacqueline Petchel and Ann Williams as references. She told Special Force that she was unemployed and that she was interested in its ministry. Neither Johnson nor her references, who also worked for WCCO, disclosed that Johnson worked for WCCO or that she intended to secretly videotape activities at respondents' facilities.

Johnson spent 120 hours volunteering for Special Force. During that time, she used a hidden camera to gather footage to be used by WCCO.

WCCO broadcast its report on Special Force on November 6 and 7, 1995. The report contained footage of staff allegedly forgetting to feed patients and administer medications, of staff allegedly giving double doses of medication, and of a patient falling. Appellant Trish Van Pilsum, a WCCO reporter, stated that Special Force provided "questionable care" and "billed the state for care [it] simply did not provide."

Respondents Special Force and St. Angelo claim that as a result of appellants' tortious actions, their reputations have been harmed, and they have moved to Missouri. They seek actual damages in the form of moving expenses, lost revenues, and decreased donations. St. Angelo also claims he has suffered ill health, loss of reputation, embarrassment, and emotional distress. Respondents' eight named residents, many of whom moved to Missouri with Special Force, claim that as a result of appellants' actions, they were devastated, humiliated, and felt betrayed by Johnson, whom they trusted as a caregiver and friend. Many claim that their physical and mental disabilities have been aggravated as a result of appellants' actions.

ISSUES

I. Did the district court err in determining that respondents had presented clear and convincing evidence to support their trespass claim against appellants?

II. Did the district court err in determining that respondents presented clear and convincing evidence to support their fraud claim?

III. Did respondents present clear and convincing evidence to support their allegations of defamation?

ANALYSIS

Appellants moved for summary judgment or dismissal under Minn.Stat. §§ 554.01-.02. Under these statutes, respondents had the burden to prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that appellants' conduct was not immune from liability because that conduct constituted a tort. Id. §§ 554.02, subd. 2(2), (3), 554.03. At this early stage of the proceedings, we assume that respondents have met their burden if they have presented clear and convincing evidence on the elements of their claims. Cf. Swanlund v. Shimano Indus. Corp., 459 N.W.2d 151, 155 (Minn.App.1990) (on motion to amend to plead punitive damages, party must offer evidence which, if unrebutted, would constitute clear and convincing evidence of willful indifference), review denied (Minn. Oct. 5, 1990).

I. Trespass

A person commits trespass when that person enters another's land without consent. Copeland v. Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc., 526 N.W.2d 402, 403 (Minn.App.1995), review denied (Minn. Mar. 29, 1995). A permitted entrant may become a trespasser by exceeding the scope of consent. Id. at 404-05; see also Northern States Power Co. v. Franklin, 265 Minn. 391, 396, 122 N.W.2d 26, 30 (1963) ("Wrongful conduct following an authorized entry upon the land can result in trespass.") Whether a party has given consent is a fact question for the jury. Copeland, 526 N.W.2d at 405; see also Rieger v. Zackoski, 321 N.W.2d 16, 20 (Minn.1982) (jury issue as to whether entrant became trespasser by exceeding scope of possessor's invitation or permission).

Appellants argue that respondents' trespass claim fails because Johnson's entry was not forcible and unlawful, and because respondents are mere possessors and do not own the facility. While respondents initially welcomed Johnson onto their property, if she exceeded the scope of her consent by secretly videotaping their activities, her continuing presence became unpermitted and unlawful. See id. Moreover, trespass does not require ownership; the right to possess is sufficient. See State v. Hoyt, 304 N.W.2d 884, 890 (Minn.1981) (nursing home resident held to be in possession of nursing home property); Neilan v. Braun, 354 N.W.2d 856, 859 (Minn.App.1984) (tenant farmer in possession of land may sue owner for trespass).

Appellants also argue that this court should limit Copeland to its facts. Copeland, 526 N.W.2d at 402, involved a hidden camera investigation of a veterinarian. A university student, who was also employed by KSTP Television, used a hidden camera to film the veterinarian's practice methods without the permission of either the veterinarian or the owner of the home where the footage was obtained. Id. at 404-05. The homeowner sued KSTP. This court observed that "[c]ourts in other jurisdictions have recognized trespass as a remedy when broadcasters use secret cameras for newsgathering" and that "[n]ewsgathering does not create a license to trespass or to intrude by electronic means into the precincts of another's home or office." Id. (citations omitted). In reversing the grant of summary judgment to KSTP on the trespass claim, this court concluded that there was sufficient evidence that the student had exceeded the scope of consent to create a fact question. Id. at 405.

Appellants attempt to distinguish Copeland by noting that it involved a homeowner who was not the subject of the news story. This distinction is irrelevant to the issue of whether appellants have trespassed. Trespass encompasses any unlawful interference with one's person, property, or rights, and requires only two essential elements: a rightful possession in the plaintiff and unlawful entry upon such possession by the defendant. Garvis v. Employers Mut. Cas. Co., 497 N.W.2d 254, 259 (Minn.1993); All American Foods, Inc. v. Aitkin County, 266 N.W.2d 704, 705 (Minn.1978). Thus, trespass is broad enough to cover the conduct complained of here.

Appellants further argue that we should overrule Copeland because it violates the First Amendment. The First Amendment does not insulate a person from liability for unlawful trespass. See Dietemann v. Time, Inc., 449 F.2d 245, 249 (9th Cir.1971) ("First Amendment is not a license to trespass, to steal, or to intrude by electronic means into the precincts of another's home or office"); see also The Florida Star v. B.J.F., 491 U.S. 524, 535 n. 8, 109 S.Ct. 2603, 2610 n. 8, 105 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989) (declining to decide whether imposing liability for acquisition and publication of unlawfully obtained information would violate First Amendment).

Our supreme court recently recognized the tort of invasion of privacy, specifically the torts of intrusion upon seclusion, appropriation, and publication of private facts. Lake v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 582 N.W.2d 231, 235 (Minn.1998). The court declined to recognize the tort of false light publicity because it was concerned about the increased tension between the First Amendment and the tort of false light publicity, which is similar to defamation but more expansive. Id. at 235-36.

This action is based on fraud and trespass, not on the tort of false light publicity. There is no inherent conflict or tension with the First Amendment in holding media...