KENNETH KRIBS, APPELLANT,
v.
CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, AND FRANK KOHL, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS CITY MANAGER OF THE CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, APPELLEES
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A former city finance director sued for libel and slander after the city manager released to the press a termination letter citing gross misfeasance and dereliction of duty. The court affirmed dismissal, holding that the city manager possessed absolute immunity for public statements made in discharging official duties.
The court held that executive officials possess absolute immunity for defamatory publications made in performance of their official duties. Filing a copy of the termination letter in the employee's personnel file does not remove this privilege, and no policy of the state protects public employees from embarrassment resulting from their employer's public discussion of job performance failures.
[1] Executive officials are granted absolute immunity for defamatory publications made in the performance of their official duties.
[2] The filing of a letter containing reasons for an employee's discharge in their personnel file does not negate the absolute privilege afforded to the public employer in di…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“In McNayr v. Kelly, 184 So. 2d 428 (Fla.1966) our Supreme Court gave absolute immunity to executive officials with respect to defamatory publications made in the performance of their official duties.”
Establishes the foundational legal principle of absolute immunity for executive officials in defamation cases
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceKenneth Kribs was employed as finance director for the City of Boynton Beach. On March 4, 1977, he received a termination letter from City Manager Fra…
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PACK, R. WALLACE, Associate Judge.
This is an appeal timely filed from an Order dismissing the appellant’s second amended complaint with prejudice. The allegations contained in the complaint were that the appellees (City of Boynton Beach and City Manager) libeled and slandered the appellant by releasing to the press the contents of a letter dismissing the appellant from his position as finance director of the City of Boynton Beach. By a letter dated March 4, 1977, the appellant, Kenneth Kribs, received notice that his employment as finance director of the City of Boynton Beach was being terminated. The reasons stated in the letter for the termination were that Mr. Kribs had been guilty of gross misfeasance and dereliction of duty. Copies of this letter were then forwarded to the mayor, city council, personnel director, chairman of the Civil Service Appeals Board and the city attorney. A copy of the letter was also placed in the appellant’s personnel file.
Shortly thereafter, Frank Kohl, the city manager and author of the letter, released the contents of the letter to the press.
Kribs then sued the City of Boynton •Beach and Frank Kohl for libel and slander contending that the letter, as part of his personnel file, was confidential information and not subject to public inspection.
We find no merit in the appellant’s position.
In McNayr v. Kelly, 184 So. 2d 428 (Fla.1966) our Supreme Court gave absolute immunity to executive officials with respect to defamatory publications made in the performance of their official duties. In McNayr the county manager of Dade County was recognized as possessing absolute privilege with reference to public statements made in discharging the county public safety director. The appellant has also argued that public policy requires personnel reports of this nature to be withheld from public scrutiny. Our Supreme Court had addressed itself to this point in the case of News-Press Publishing Co. v. Wisher, 345 So. 2d 646. At page 648 the Court stated:
No policy of the state protects a public employee from the embarrassment which results from his or her public employer’s discussion or action on the employee’s failure to perform his or her duties properly. In the case in Densmore v. City of Boca Raton, 368 So. 2d 945 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979), a casé factually similar to this, this court stated in its concluding paragraph:
[T]he city manager enjoyed an absolute privilege in disclosing the reasons for his discharge of Densmore; and the filing of a copy of a letter containing those reasons in the employee’s personnel file did not remove the privilege.
AFFIRMED.
MOORE and BERANEK, JJ., concur.
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Mueller v. THE Florida BAR, 390 So. 2d 449 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980)…Co., 310 So. 2d 326 (Fla.2d DCA 1975). Precedent indicates an inclination to give a broad definition to the term “scope of office” and its synonyms. Densmore v. City of Boca Raton, 368 So. 2d 945 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979); Kribs v. City of Boynton Beach, 372 So. 2d 195 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979). We are persuaded that public policy dictates adherence to that philosophy. Particularly apt to the situation which confronts us on this appeal is the following language from Johnson v. Carhart, 353 So. 2d 874, 876 (Fla. 3rd DCA…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- McNAYR v. Kelly, 184 So. 2d 428 (Fla. 1966)
- News-Press Publ'g Co. v. Lavon Wisher, 345 So. 2d 646 (Fla. 1977)
- Garcia v. Jarvis Corp. & Travelers Ins. Co., 368 So. 2d 945 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979)