DON H. STAFFORD, APPELLANT,
v.
JOHN HAYES AND TIM SMITH, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS EMPLOYEES OF WKY TELEVISION SYSTEM, INC. D/B/A WTVT, CHANNEL 13, APPELLEES
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Affirmed summary judgment for television crew; public figure photographed in newsworthy public setting has no claim for assault and battery or invasion of privacy.
A television crew's photographing of a public figure in a newsworthy public gathering is privileged, and no assault and battery claim arises from camera lights that cause eye discomfort when the injury was not foreseeable as substantially certain.
[1] A television crew has a privilege to photograph and broadcast images of individuals in newsworthy public gatherings, and such activity does not constitute assault and bat…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA public relations representative was photographed by a television crew with cameras and floodlights while in a hotel bar during a Capitol evacuation …
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SMITH, Judge.
Appellant, a public relations representative concerned with his client’s legislative interests, visited the Hilton Hotel’s bar in Tallahassee when the Capitol was evacuated after a bomb threat. He was there photographed by the appellee television crew who entered the bar with cameras and floodlights to examine and record the convivial alternative to work which had thus become available to State employees temporarily displaced from their desks. The lights hurt appellant’s sensitive eyes and he was offended and embarrassed by his appearance on television that evening. The trial court correctly determined on motion for summary judgment that the injury to appellant’s eyes was not foreseeable by the television crew as a substantially certain result of their camera lights and, consequently, that appellant’s claim of assault and battery was unfounded. Spivey v. Battaglia, 258 So. 2d 815 (Fla.1972). The trial court also correctly determined that appellant was an actor in a newsworthy occurrence of public interest and that appellees were privileged to telecast pictures of the group which included appellant. Jacova v. Southern Radio and Tele. Co., 83 So. 2d 34 (Fla.1955).
Affirmed.
McCORD, Acting C. J., and FULLER, RICHARD S., Associate Judge, concur.
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Etcher v. Blitch, 381 So. 2d 1119 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979)…g, he said, to frighten Etcher by shooting out the window; he shot Etcher instead. His act was in law intentional, not negligent. Spivey v. Battaglia, 258 So. 2d 815 (Fla.1972); McDonald v. Ford, 223 So. 2d 553 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969); Stafford v. Hayes, 327 So. 2d 871 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976). AFFIRMED. ERVIN and BOOTH, JJ., concur.…
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Nelson v. Globe Commc'ns Corp., 45 Fla. Supp. 48 (Fla. Cir. Ct. 1977)…considered a defense to a claim of invasion of privacy by publication. Seeing that the matter published was of obvious legitimate public interest, the publication, per se, was not an invasion of privacy. And Stafford v. Hayes (Fla. D.C.A.-1, 1976), 327 So. 2d 871, upheld a summary judgment for the defendant television station, stating — Appellant, a public relations representative concerned with his client’s legislative interests, visited the Hilton Hotel’s bar in Tallahassee when the Capitol was evacuated…
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Sardinas v. M.C.A., Inc., 484 So. 2d 639 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986)…, or constitute an invasion of privacy, see Jacova v. Southern Radio & Television Co., 83 So. 2d 34, 40 (Fla.1955); Boyles v. Mid-Florida Television Corp., 431 So. 2d 627, 637 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983), aff'd, 467 So. 2d 282 (Fla.1985); Stafford v. Hayes, 327 So. 2d 871 (Fla. 1st DCA), cert. denied, 336 So. 2d 604 (Fla.1976), we affirm the lower court’s dismissal with prejudice of the complaint. Affirmed.…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Jacova v. S. Radio & Television Co., 83 So. 2d 34 (Fla. 1955)
- Spivey v. Battaglia, 258 So. 2d 815 (Fla. 1972)