Noel

In this defamation action, plaintiff Brandon J. Noel appeals a summary judgment in favor of defendants River Hills Wilsons, Inc. (Wilsons) and its employee Shelly Santillan. Noel contends the conditional common-interest privilege of Civil Code section 47, subdivision (c), amended in 1994 to be expressly made applicable to defamatory statements made without malice by a current or former employer to a prospective employer, did not arise because in making the statements, Santillan acted with malice. Alternatively, Noel contends the privilege did not arise because the statements were not “based on credible evidence,” as that phrase is used in the amended statute.

We conclude the defendants proved the defamatory statements were made on a privileged occasion, and Noel presented no evidence from which a reasonable jury could infer malice. Further, as a matter of apparent first impression, we hold that in including the “based on credible evidence” language in the 1994 amendment to section 47, subdivision (c), the Legislature did not intend to make the common-interest privilege inapplicable in the employment reference context on a showing of the defendant’s mere negligence. The…