Alabama Court Rules Story of Rumor with Denial Can Be Libelous

An Alabama appeals court has ruled that a false and defamatory published statement can be libelous even if it accurately quotes a person making the claim, includes a denial and makes clear the allegation is unverified.

The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals issued the ruling in a libel lawsuit brought by Anniston City Councilman Ben Little against The Anniston Star. A lower court had thrown out the lawsuit, but the appeals court said it could be heard by a jury.

The appeals court ruled in favor of the Star on a separate claim by Little involving intent to inflict emotional distress.

On the libel issue, the judges said there was no “definitive statement of Alabama law” to guide it, but it cited rulings from other states in its decision.

“We remain confident that our work has not in any way libeled Councilman Little,” Star Editor Bob Davis said. “We stand by our reporting and we stand by our editorials, and we stand by our mission to hold public officials accountable.”

Little did not immediately respond to an e-mail request for comment.

Little filed the lawsuit after a Star story on Feb. 19, 2009, quoted another city councilman, John Spain, saying there were rumors that Little “has a personal relationship” with a woman who got a $2,500 city contract to conduct an audit of the human resources department. The story quoted Spain as saying the rumor would be unfair to Little if it’s not true, and it quoted Little as saying it was not true.

A Star editorial the next day made reference to Little’s “sweetheart HR audit deal.”

An attorney for Little wrote a letter requesting a retraction, but the attorney was not satisfied by an article in the Star on Feb. 27, 2009, that included an apology for its error. The lawsuit was filed but then dismissed by a circuit judge.

In reviving the suit, the appeals court held that “a newspaper reporter or publisher cannot avoid liability for publishing a false and defamatory statement on the ground that the newspaper reporter or publisher accurately quoted the rumormonger, even if the newspaper story clearly identified the statement as an unverified report and even if the newspaper story contains a denial of the rumor by its subject.”

The court said the paper did not investigate to determine if the rumor was true before publishing it, and the judges said there was no evidence that Little had any personal relationship with the woman.