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was taken into account by both Okabena and petitioner in
negotiating their settlement agreement.
We find that petitioner had asserted a bona fide claim for
defamation at the time the settlement agreement was executed;
therefore, the first element of Schleier is met.6
B. Age Discrimination
Petitioner asserts that his age discrimination claim was
grounded upon the Minnesota Human Rights Act, Minn. Stat. Ann.
secs. 363.01-363.15 (West 1991 & Supp. 2000), and not the Age
Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), Pub. L. 90-202,
sec. 2, 81 Stat. 602, currently codified at 29 U.S.C. secs. 621-
634 (1994), due to jurisdictional limitations of the ADEA.7
6Petitioner argued, in the alternative, that the first
element of a defamation claim, i.e., that a statement was
communicated to someone other than the plaintiff, may be met
through the doctrine of “self-publication”. Lewis v. Equitable
Life Assurance Socy. of the U.S., 389 N.W.2d 876, 886 (Minn.
1986). Generally, there is no publication where a statement is
communicated directly to the plaintiff, who then communicates it
to a third person. Minnesota law, however, recognizes the
doctrine of compelled self-publication and acknowledges that the
publication requirement of a defamation action “may be satisfied
where the plaintiff was compelled to publish a defamatory
statement to a third person if it was foreseeable to the
defendant that the plaintiff would be so compelled.” Id. at 888.
In light of our holding, however, we need not address the merits
of petitioner’s alternative argument.
7The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA),
Pub. L. 90-202, sec. 2, 81 Stat. 602, currently codified at 29
U.S.C. secs. 621-634 (1994), prohibits claims against employers
with fewer than 20 employees. In contrast, age discrimination
actions under the Minnesota Human Rights Act may be brought
against employers with one or more employees. See Minn. Stat.
(continued...)
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