Ms. Gay, a nurse's aide at the William Hill Manor Nursing Home, was discharged by her employer for placing a pillow on a resident's face to keep her from shouting. Following her termination, she was escorted through the facility to her car by three managers. Gay filed a defamation claim, alleging that her reputation was severely harmed by being publicly escorted out of the home. She also contended that a report submitted to the state unemployment agency, which gave "physical mistreatment of a resident" as the reason for termination, was a defamatory publication that fell outside the scope of the home's qualified privilege.
Was defamatory information about Gay disseminated to employees and patients by the fact that three supervisors had escorted her to her car? If it is established that Gay had applied minimum pressure to the resident to stop her from shouting and disrupting the peace and quiet of the home, will she succeed in her defamation suit based on the employer's published reason for termination of "physical mistreatment of a resident?" Decide. [Gay v. William Hill Manor, Inc., 3 IER Cases 744]