Employer’s investigative report shielded from defamation liability

Warren claimed that an internal investigation report for her employer, Fannie Mae, was defamatory. The Fifth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the defense, holding, inter alia, that the report was shielded from liability by a qualified privilege. As to Warren’s argument that the report was made with actual malice, her evidence of “things that the investigator left out of the report” did not meet the demanding standard of showing “that the report was false or recklessly disregarded the truth.”  And as to her argument about excessive distribution of the report, she “offer[ed] no evidence, other than her own speculation, that any person without a valid interest received the report or was made aware of its findings.” Warren v. Fannie Mae, No. 18-11211 (Aug. 2, 2019).