Gannon v. Walker [1]

Edward Gannon, a pilot with US Airways, filed a lawsuit [2] against Paula Walker, Sue Burris, and Brian Shunick, three airline attendants, claiming that they defamed him by reporting Gannon's willingness to take-off in an airplane with iced wings to the Federal Aviation Administration. Subsequently, Gannon filed a motion to amend his complaint to add new defamation claims and a false light claim based on the defendants' contributions to an article published in the Phoenix New Times [3], in which they "repeated their earlier false and defamatory statements." (Amend. Compl. [4] ¶ 4.) He also alleged that the defendants were "endeavoring to disseminate their misleading diatribe" by creating a blog with a story on the lawsuit at www.helpflightattendantcrew.blogspot.com. (Amend. Compl. [4] ¶ 5.) Gannon argued that the story "while technically accurate, nevertheless is actionable under a false light invasion of privacy action."(Id. [4])

In February 2009, an Arizona state court denied Gannon's motion to amend, finding that his "defamation claims would be futile" and granted Walker's motion for summary judgment on laches, qualified privilege, and the veracity of Walker's claims. (Opinion [5] at p. 3.) In March 2009, Gannon filed a "motion for new trial on court's summary judgment ruling" and a motion for reconsideration of the denial of leave to amend [6].