Unelko Corp., an Illinois Corporation Howard G. Ohlhausen v. Andy Rooney, an Individual Cbs, Inc.

Plaintiffs Unelko Corporation and Howard G. Ohlhausen (Unelko) appeal from an order dismissing their defamation claim against Andy Rooney and CBS, Inc. (Rooney) on summary judgment. The suit arises from statements made by Rooney during the April 17 and May 8, 1988 broadcasts of “60 Minutes,” among which was the assertion that Unelko’s product “Rain-X” “didn’t work.” The district court granted summary judgment for Rooney, finding that Rooney’s statement that Rain-X “didn’t work” was protected as opinion and that Unelko had failed to raise a triable issue of fact as to whether any of Rooney’s statements were false and defamatory. We affirm because we agree that Unelko failed to create a triable issue of fact as to falsity.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On October 1, 1987, The Arizona Republic published a column by Andy Rooney, entitled “RAIN,” which reflected on the writer’s associations with rainy days. In response to Rooney’s comment that cars should have “truck-sized windshield wipers” that would clean the entire windshield, Unelko’s national sales manager sent Rooney a letter accompanied by a small supply of Unelko’s product “Rain-X.” The letter stated in part:

(Emphasis…