The opinion
STATE OF LOUISIANA
COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT
MARCUS RANDALL NO. 2021 CW 0176
PAGE 1 OF 2
VERSUS
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF SOUTHERN
UNIVERSITY AND A& M COLLEGE, LOUISIANA
HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS ASSOCIATION,
LOUISIANA HIGH SCHOOL COACHES
ASSOCIATION, HERMAN BRISTER, JR.,
INDIVIDUALLY AND IN HIS OFFICIAL
CAPACITY AS DIRECTOR OF THE SOUTHERN
UNIVERSITY LAB SCHOOL, EDDIE BONINE, AUGUST 23, 2021
TERENCE WILLIAMS
In Re: Board of Supervisors of Southern University and A& M
College and Herman Brister, Jr., applying for
supervisory writs, 19th Judicial District Court,
Parish of East Baton Rouge, No. 662073.
BEFORE: WHIPPLE, C. J., CHUTZ AND HESTER, JJ.
WRIT GRANTED. The district court' s January 21, 2021
judgment denying the motion for partial summary judgment filed
by Defendants, Board of Supervisors of Southern University and
A& M College and Herman Brister, Jr., is hereby reversed. A
defamation claim requires the plaintiff to prove ( 1) a false and
defamatory statement about another; ( 2) an unprivileged
publication to a third party; ( 3) fault ( actual or implied
malice); and ( 4) injury. Bindom, v. Kirby, 2018- 0009 ( La. App.
1st Cir. 4/ 23/ 191,, 276 So. 3d 550, 555, citing Kennedy v. Sheriff
of E. Baton Rouge, 2005- 1418 ( tea. 7/ 10/ 06), 935 So. 2d 669, 674.
Defendants successfully pointed out to the court the absence of
factual support for the first element of Plaintiff' s defamation
claim: a false and defamatory statement. At that point, the
burden shifted to Plaintiff to produce factual support
sufficient to establish the existence of a genuine issue of
material fact or that the mover is not entitled to judgment as a
matter of law. Plaintiff failed to do so; therefore, Defendants
are entitled to summary judgment on this issue. As to
Plaintiff' s 42 U. S. C. § 1. 983 deprivation of
liberty claim.
against Mr. Brister, we find that qualified immunity applies.
Although it is doubtful that Plaintiff will be able to prove
each of the elements of his 42 U. S. C. § 1983 claim at trial, Mr.
Brister established that his conduct did not violate clearly
established or constitutional rights of which a
statutory
reasonable person would have known. See Pearson v. Callahan,
555 U. S. 223, 231, 129 S. Ct. 808, 815, 172 L. Ed. 2d 565
2009), quoting Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U. S. 800, 818, 102
S. Ct. 2727, 2738, 73 L. Ed. 2d 396 (-! 982). Therefore, it was
incumbent upon Plaintiff to present controlling authority that
defines the contours of the right in question with a high
degree of particularity." See Wigginton v. Jones, 964 F. 3d
329, 335 ( 5th Cir. 2020), cert. denied, _ U. S. _, 141 S. Ct.
1268, 209 L. Ed. 2d 10 ( 2021). Plaintiff failed to establish that
Mr. Brister is not entitled to qualified immunity, and
therefore, that Mr. Brister is not entitled to judgment as a
matter of law. Accordingly, Defendants' motion for partial
STATE OF LOUISIANA
COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT
NO. 2021 CW 0176
PACE 2 OF 2
summary judgment is granted. The claims asserted by Plaintiff,
Marcus Randall, against Defendant, Herman Brister, Sr., are
dismissed with prejudice, and the defamation claim asserted by
Plaintiff, Marcus Randall, against Defendant, Board of
Supervisors of Southern University and A& M College, is dismissed
with prejudice.
VGW
WRC
CHH
COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT
WDF PUT YCI IERK OF COURT
FOR THE COURT