Freight visibility platform, FourKites, Inc., did not see this one coming. 

A couple months ago, I covered the most important corporate defamation case in the US: project44 v FourKites, Inc. Back in March, we had a ruling. In the end, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that, “… a corporation has a distinct reputation from that of its management- level employees and an interest in protecting that reputation among its employees and the public at large.”  Today we have a settlement.

TLDR: project44 won. 

As an Illinois attorney, this was the likely outcome. project44 sued for defamation per se, but the case was dismissed at the trial court level, & project44 appealed. The appellate court reversed & FourKites, Inc. appealed. On appeal, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the appellate court ruling & remanded to the trial court. What this means is that FourKites, Inc. will now be required to answer the complaint & assert its affirmative defenses. After that comes discovery, which includes requests for records & answers to interrogatories followed by depositions. 

Get your popcorn, this is just the beginning. In Illinois, certain statements are considered defamatory per se. These include statements that impute a person has committed a crime, is unable to perform or lacks integrity in performing her or his employment duties, or lacks ability or otherwise prejudices that person in her or his profession. If a defamatory statement is actionable per se, the plaintiff is not required to plead or prove actual damages to recover. 

This was a question of first impression in Illinois. That question is whether there is publication when defamatory communication is sent to corporate employees from a person outside the corporation? Everything rested on “publication” of the alleged defamatory statements. FourKites, Inc. argued the corporate employees were one and the same as the corporation. The project44 & Illinois Supreme Court disagreed. 

To answer this question, the Illinois Supreme Court looked to similar legal doctrines in Illinois, specifically the “intracorporate publication” rule. Under the intracorporate publication rule, interoffice reports or communications that are circulated among employees within a corporation have been ‘published’ to ‘third parties’ for defamation purposes. The rule generally applies when an employee is terminated based on defamatory comments made by management or coworkers within a corporation and subsequently file a defamation action against the corporation. In the end, "a corporation has a distinct reputation from that of its management." 

Remember though, dear readers, if this does go to litigation, truth is always a defense. Will it settle? Will it go to trial? Time will tell. [spoiler, they settled].

This program is brought to you by DAT Freight & Analytics. Since 1978, DAT has helped truckers & brokers discover more available loads. Whether you're heading home or looking for your next adventure, DAT has the data! New users of DAT can save 10% off for the first 12 months by following the links below.

For Truckers, DAT One Pro gives you access to tri-haul & 15-day rate as opposed to 30-day rate. For Brokers, DAT One Select gives you access to Market Conditions, Exact Match alarms & more. Even under the best circumstances, moving freight was never easy.