Taylor

In this appeal we examine the question of privilege in the context of a commercial slander. Plaintiff Williams brought this action alleging various causes of action against his former employer, Taylor Motors, Inc. (Taylor Motors); the company’s president, Howard Taylor; and the company’s general manager, Jerry Newcomer. The trial court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment as to all causes of action alleged in plaintiff’s complaint. We affirm. court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment as to all causes of action alleged in plaintiff’s complaint. We affirm.

Prior to May 1979, plaintiff was employed as manager of the body shop of defendant Taylor Motors. In May 1979, plaintiff’s employment was terminated. According to defendant Taylor’s declaration, he became alerted to a “problem” in the body shop and began an investigation. His investigation disclosed numerous inconsistencies in the company’s work records, including missing repair orders, the appearance of fictitious names on various repair orders, time logs which did not accurately reflect the time actually spent working on automobiles, and unauthorized work which was performed on company time and…