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Case No. 23-1220

Amie Villarini
v.
Iowa City Community School District

Appellant

Amie Villarini

Appellee

Iowa City Community School District

Attorney for the Appellant

James K. Weston II

Attorney for the Appellee

Erek P. Sittig, Crystal K. Raiber, and Hayley Masching

Court of Appeals

Court of Appeals Opinion

Opinion Number:
23-1220
Date Published:
Oct 30, 2024
Summary

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, Andrew Chappell, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON APPEAL AND CROSS-APPEAL.  Heard by Greer, P.J., Langholz, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Opinion by Langholz, J.  (15 pages)

            A former high school tennis coach, Amie Villarini, appeals a summary judgment ruling dismissing her defamation and wrongful-discharge claims against the Iowa City Community School District arising out of the school district’s online publication of an unabridged video of a public school board meeting, during which two students made purportedly defamatory statements about her.  The school district cross-appeals the denial of its motion to amend its answer to assert a qualified-immunity defense.  OPINION HOLDS: The fair-report privilege defeats Villarini’s defamation claim against the school district because the video recording is an accurate and complete report of an official proceeding.  Villarini’s common-law wrongful-discharge-in-violation-of-public-policy claim fails because she has not identified a clearly defined public policy.  And because the district court properly granted summary judgment on the defamation claim, the school district’s motion to amend its answer to raise an additional qualified-immunity defense was properly denied as moot. 

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