Harris v. Tietex International Ltd. (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-060-16, 8 pp.) (Paul Short Jr., J.) Appealed from Spartanburg County Circuit Court (J. Derham Cole, J.) S.C. App.
Holding: Plaintiff bases his defamation claims on three internal memos which concerned an evaluation of his job performance; since plaintiff fails to argue malice or abuse of privilege, the memos are covered by the affirmative defense of qualified privilege.
We affirm the trial court’s grant of summary judgment for defendant.
Three other potential bases for plaintiff’s defamation claims arising from plaintiff’s Oct. 21, 2011, complaint are a Feb. 9, 2007, email, defendant’s suspension of plaintiff’s employment, and defendant’s “banning” of plaintiff from its laboratory. Such claims are barred by the two-year statute of limitations.
The statute of limitations as to these claims was not tolled while plaintiff’s original action was pending in federal court because the complaint in his first action alleged that the defamatory statements had been made “since his termination,” which occurred on July 19, 2007. The three defamation claims in question were based on statements or acts that occurred prior to plaintiff’s termination.
Affirmed.