§ 6.4.5.5 CONDUCT AS A STATEMENT

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

§ 6.4.5.5 Conduct As a Statement. The Restatement of Torts (Second) recognizes that defamation may occur not just from actual statements, but also from conduct. Section 568 states that "Slander consists of the publication of defamatory matter by spoken words, transitory gestures or by any form of communication".¹⁷³ Although liability for defamation normally arises only out of oral or written statements, an employer's conduct can also give rise to liability. In General Motors Corp. v. Piskor,¹⁷⁴ an employee was detained by four security guards and questioned in a plate glass enclosed room, easily visible to other employees; the conduct was witnessed by several thousand other employees who were changing shifts. Noting that "defamatory matter may be...