Neary

Plaintiff, George Neary, appeals from a judgment entered against him on his complaint for libel naming as defendants the Regents of the University of California (university) and individual veterinarians associated with the university, and alleging that defendants defamed him in a report analyzing the reasons for the death of many of plaintiff’s cattle. Defendants were granted summary judgment on the ground that publication of the report was absolutely privileged under Civil Code section 47, subdivision l.

The parties have agreed that, for the purpose of the motion for summary judgment, the following facts are undisputed: In July 1978 plaintiff bought a herd of 850 pregnant heifers which he then moved from Klamath Falls, Oregon, to his own ranch near Chico, California. To prevent the spread of scabies, from December 18 through 23, 1978, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) sprayed the herd with the chemical toxaphene. In January 1979, when the heifers began calving, at least 95 of them and over 400 of their calves died.

The parties are in disagreement as to how the university came to be involved in plaintiff’s cow problem. In late February 1979,…