4.2 Competitor's Qualified Privilege

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

A competitor's qualified privilege to interfere with business expectancies or contracts terminable at will is specifically recognized in Arizona.[fn292] The competitor's privilege has been invoked to deny recovery to a rancher whose competitor beat him to the purchase of grazing land with the only well on it;[fn293] to the owner of a mining claim whose competitor interfered with his future sale of the claim;[fn294] to the employer whose competitor hired away his employees;[fn295] and to a competitor who successfully

Page 72

replaced the plaintiff as the operator of a coin operated laundry under a terminable "location agreement" with the apartment owner.[fn296]

The elements of the defense of competitor's privilege were set forth in Edwardsv. Anaconda:[fn297]

Despite the indications of intentional interference, Anaconda cannot be liable in tort. It escapes liability because its actions were privileged. Anaconda and Edwards were competitors as to the minerals in these unpatented claims. Anaconda had a strong interest in the area, as evidenced by the fact that it had rights in every piece of property around Edwards' claims.

The Restatement of Torts § 768 recognizes the privilege of competitors as follows:

`(1) One is privileged purposely to cause a third person not to enter into or continue a business relation with a competitor of the actor if

(a) the relation concerns a matter involved in the competition between the actor and the competitor, and

(b) the actor does not employ improper means, and

(c) the actor does not intend thereby to create or continue an illegal restraint of competition, and

(d) the actor's purpose is...