Deranged and Defamed | Undergraduate Honors Thesis
Spring 2015 | Thesis adviser: Victoria Ekstrand | Honors level: With Highest Honors
Deranged and Defamed: U.S. Courts and Defamation Suits Involving Mental Illness Imputations After the Americans with Disabilities Act
by Louisa Clark '15
The purpose of this thesis is to explore and analyze the way U.S. courts have treated defamation claims involving the imputation of mental illness. Specifically, this thesis looks at 11 cases, both state and federal, following the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, in which discrimination based on disability was prohibited. In eight of the cases analyzed, the alleged defamatory statement was determined to be non-actionable opinion or hyperbole. In two of the cases the statements were found to be defamation per se and in one case the statement was determined to not impute mental illness and to be substantially true. This thesis looks specifically at how each court in the non-actionable opinion or hyperbole cases came to that determination. Both ambiguity and inconsistencies were found among the courts in defining what constitutes an opinion protected by the First Amendment. This thesis also approaches these cases from a Critical Legal Studies perspective and analyzes the specific rhetoric used by the courts when discussing mental illness and its wider implications. In no case examined does the court argue that imputing mental illness is no longer defamatory, even if the statement in the majority of the cases was ultimately deemed non-actionable. The cases in which the imputation of mental illness constituted defamation per se focused on the impact the imputation had or could have had on the plaintiffs’ careers or employment. This suggests that a plaintiff is more likely to be successful in a defamation claim involving reputational harm to their abilities as an employee. A consistent standard for what constitutes non-actionable opinion is needed in order to understand the state of defamation law in relation to the imputation of mental illness. Courts also need to acknowledge their role in the country’s social context and the impact their characterization has.
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The Hussman School Honors Program is available to students wishing to pursue an original and substantial research or creative project under direct supervision of a faculty adviser during their senior year. Learn more at mj.unc.edu/Honors.