Denver Publishing Co. v. Bueno9/16/2002
ting Doe v. High-Tech Inst., Inc., 972 P.2d 1060 (Colo. App. 1998)); Seidl v. Greentree Mortg. Co., 30 F. Supp. 2d 1292, 1302 (D. Colo. 1998) (applying Colorado law to determine that business entities lack standing to bring invasion of privacy false light claims); Smith v. Colo. Interstate Gas Co., 777 F. Supp. 854, 857 (D. Colo. 1991) (noting Colorado has not defined the parameters of its "invasion of privacy" torts but ruling that under any theory, including false light, plaintiff's claim failed). All four false light claims failed on their merits.
B. Other States
As of this writing, thirty state courts acknowledge false light as a viable claim in their jurisdictions. See Bueno v. Denver Publ'g Co., 32 P.3d 491, 495 (Colo. App. 2000) (collecting twenty-seven cases). Thirteen states have not expressly adopted the tort. Id. Several of those state courts, after examining a false light claim, decided either to reject the tort outright, e.g., Renwick v. News & Observer Publ'g Co., 312 S.E.2d 405, 410 (N.C. 1984) ("We will not expand the tort of invasion of privacy . . . to include `false light.'"), or simply noted that the facts presented did not justify recognition, e.g., Yeager v. Local Union 20, Teamsters, 453 N.E.2d 666, 670 (Ohio 1983) ("Under the facts of the instant case, we find no rationale which compels us to adopt the `false light' theory of recovery in Ohio at this time."). A few jurisdictions have yet to confront the issue, e.g., Riley v. Harr, 292 F.3d 282, 298 (1st Cir. 2002) (noting the uncertainty as to "whether the New Hampshire Supreme Court would recognize the false light tort").
III. Analysis
Tort law represents the way in which we draw lines around acceptable and unacceptable non-criminal behavior in our society. Torts are designed to encourage socially beneficial conduct and deter wrongful conduct. See, e.g., Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 901(c) (1979).
Correspondingly, liability arises out of culpable behavior wherein the defendant breaches a duty to the plaintiff: crosses the line into unacceptable behavior. Liability not only recompenses the wronged plaintiff, but also deters the socially wrongful conduct in the first place. Hence, clarity and certainty of tort law serves a very important function in regulating how we deal with one another.
Both because it substantially overlaps with another tort, defamation, and because it is difficult to quantify, courts and legal scholars heartily debate whether false light invasion of privacy deserves a place among the recognized torts. " alse light remains the least-recognized and most controversial aspect of invasion of privacy." Cain v. Hearst Corp., 878 S.W.2d 577, 579 (Tex. 1994) (citing Bruce W. Sanford, Libel and Privacy, § 11.4.1 at 567 (2d ed. 1991)); see also Nathan E. Ray, Note, Let There be False Light: Resisting the Growing Trend Against an Important Tort, 84 Minn. L. Rev. 713,
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Show All Case Laws Colorado PEO
|