Fisher

Following an aggressive election campaign, highlighted by intense media coverage, Julie Fisher lost her seat on the San Diego Unified School District Board of Education. Fisher blames her defeat on defamatory statements made by members of her successful challenger’s camp, and libels published in local newspapers.

In this defamation action, Fisher, acting as her own attorney, appeals summary judgments in favor of her successor, Yvonne Larsen, and certain Larsen campaign workers; summary judgments in favor of reporter Michael Scott-Blair and Copley Press Inc. (Copley); and orders sustaining demurrers to certain causes of action. Because there remain triable issues of fact, we reverse one of the summary judgments for Copley and Scott-Blair, and each summary judgment favoring Yvonne Larsen and her campaign workers (except for designated parties). We affirm the order sustaining demurrers and reject other claims of error cited by Fisher. Finally, we hold the causes for Fisher’s failure to prevail in the election are too uncertain to allow her to recover special damages reflecting the lost future and financial benefits of that position in a defamation action.

Factual…