- 15 - 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...)Page: Previous 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Next
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