Rivera v. Allstate Ins. Co.

Record failed to support jury’s verdict in favor of plaintiffs-former employees in action alleging that defendant-employer defamed them when defendant issued Form 10-K report and internal memo that referenced investigation of claim that plaintiffs had violated defendant’s conflict of interest policy by timing trades of securities in order to increase their bonuses at expense of stock portfolios managed by plaintiffs. Statements in 10-K report and internal memo were not defamatory per se and were actionable, if at all, only on theory of defamation per quod, which required plaintiffs to show existence of special damages. Moreover, plaintiffs did not make said showing, where they presented no evidence that any prospective employer declined to hire them as consequence of defendant’s statements in 10-K report or internal memo. Additionally, plaintiffs lacked standing to assert violation of section 1681a(y)(2) of Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), even though plaintiffs argued that defendant violated said section by failing to give them summary of investigation report after their terminations, where said alleged violation constituted only procedural violation that was unaccompanied by any concrete harm or risk of harm to plaintiffs that was protected by FCRA.