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SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA NO. 98-C-2313 ANN LANG FITZGERALD VERSUS THOMAS C. TUCKER, ET UX ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEAL, THIRD CIRCUIT, PARISH OF CALCASIEU CALOGERO, Chief Justice* We granted a writ in this case to determine whether defendant is liable to plaintiff for defamation. After a thorough review of the record, we reverse the portion of the court of appeal's judgment affirming the district court's award of damages for defamation, because we find that statements made by defendant during a television interview were not actionable as a matter of law, that plaintiff failed to prove defendant uttered allegedly defamatory statements during a meeting of the Acadiana Council on Addictions, and that plaintiff failed to allege in her petition any other defamatory statements spoken or written by defendant. In so holding, we find it unnecessary to analyze a number of issues considered by the court of appeal, such as whether plaintiff was a private figure, whether the jury was properly instructed about the degree of fault which a private plaintiff must prove to recover for publication of defamatory statements regarding matters of public concern, and whether plaintiff's award of damages for defamation should have been modified upward. The events preceding the filing of this lawsuit arose out of Ann Lang Fitzgerald's and Thomas C. Tucker's involvement with the Louisiana State Board for the Certification of Substance Abuse Counselors, the state board authorized to test and certify substance abuse counselors. Initially, Fitzgerald worked for the Board as the administrative assistant to Donald Trahan, the former executive director. After Trahan and his secretary resigned, Fitzgerald, beginning June 1, 1992, assumed the role of the Board's administrative director. As administrative director, one of Fitzgerald's official duties was to notify certified substance abuse counselors of complaints filed against them. Fitzgerald was also responsible for having counselors' certificates of eligibility executed. In her capacity as administrative director, Fitzgerald worked alone at the Board's office for approximately five months until she resigned on November 2, 1992, the day that Tucker became

*

Marcus, J., not on panel. See Rule IV, Part 2,

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Louisiana Law