12.7.7 Judicial and Quasi-Judicial Privileges.

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

12.7.7 Judicial and Quasi-Judicial Privileges. Statements made in the course of litigation are absolutely privileged against a defamation claim.¹⁴⁶ This absolute privilege extends to “quasi-judicial” proceedings.¹⁴⁷ The defamatory statements merely need to have “some relation to the judicial proceedings, even though they may not constitute evidence relevant and material from a strictly legal evidentiary viewpoint.”¹⁴⁸ There is some conflict in the case law as to whether an absolute (as opposed to conditional) privilege protects statements made in the course of administrative proceedings.¹⁴⁹ The court of appeals has held that statements made in response to an investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enjoy an absolute privilege.¹⁵⁰

--------

Notes:

^[146] Hall v. Smith, 214 Ariz. 309, 311, ¶ 1, 152 P.3d 1192, 1194 (App. 2007) (holding that employee’s letter to parent company during course of litigation over employee’s alleged wrongful termination from subsidiary company, was entitled to judicial privilege, where letter accused subsidiary’s executive director of embezzling corporate funds).

^[147] Bailey v...