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CARTER v. HUBBARD1/28/1997
Randall Carter sued his former employer, Arrowhead Lock and Safe, Inc. ("Arrowhead"), and two of its corporate officers, Joseph Hubbard and Fran Henderson. Carter alleged that the defendants wrongfully terminated his employment and thereafter libeled him in a letter Arrowhead allegedly sent to individuals outside of the Arrowhead corporate structure. In Case Number A96A1640 Carter appeals the trial court's grant of summary judgment to the defendants on his libel claim, and in Case Number A96A1641 the defendants appeal the trial court's denial of their motion for summary judgment on Carter's wrongful termination claim. For the following reasons, we affirm the trial court's ruling on Carter's libel claim and reverse the trial court's ruling on Carter's wrongful termination claim.
" ummary judgment is appropriate when the court, viewing all the facts and reasonable inferences from those facts in a light most favorable to the non-moving party, concludes that the evidence does not create a triable issue as to each essential element of the case." Lau's Corp. v. Haskins, 261 Ga. 491, 495 (4) (405 S.E.2d 474) (1991). In their motion for summary judgment, defendants presented undisputed evidence showing that they hired Carter as a general manager on January 15, 1990. Shortly after hiring Carter, Arrowhead's president, Henderson, wrote and signed a memorandum to Carter " o summarize [their] discussions, agreements, and long term intentions." Among other things, the memorandum discussed Carter's compensation package for the "first year" of employment and provided that " t's the intention of the owners of Arrowhead to develop a 5 year business program with Carter."
On October 17, 1990, Carter submitted a resignation letter to Arrowhead which provided that he would resign "effective 10/26/90." According to Arrowhead, it accepted Carter's resignation, rehired
him as a salesman at the end of October, and paid him a base salary with commissions. Arrowhead presented evidence that it continued to employ Carter until the first week of March, 1991, when he left following a dispute with Henderson. Henderson stated that Carter "abandoned his job" and she had the locks changed after the argument. Carter alleges that Arrowhead never accepted his resignation, but merely reduced his compensation and subsequently terminated him on March 8, 1991.
Shortly after Carter left Arrowhead, Hubbard received information that Carter was attempting "to trade [keying records of Arrowhead clients] in exchange for a job [with a competitor]." In response, Arrowhead sent Carter a letter addressing his reported unauthorized use of the keying records. This letter, which formed the basis of Carter's libel claim, indicated that it was carbon copied to Chuck Williams and Brook Blake, whom Carter characterizes as "two individuals who are involved with the locksmith industry but who were not a part of [Arrowhead's] corporation." Although Hubbard acknowledged that he wrote in the letter that he would "c.c." Williams and Blake, he testified that he actually sent it only to Carter and Henderson. In support of this testimony, Arrowhead presented the affidavits of both Williams and Blake, in which they state that " t no time have I ever received a letter or other written correspondence from any of the defendants regarding Randall Carter. Nor have I ever heard any of the defendants make or cause to be made any oral derogatory or uncomplimentary statements, remarks or comments about Randall Carter."
Case No. A96A1640
1. Carter contends the trial court erred in finding that there was no evidence showing the letter was published to Williams and Blake. We disagree.
It is not disputed th
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