Killmer, Lane & Newman, LLP Mari Newman and Towards Justice v. BKP, Inc. Ella Bliss Beauty Bar LLC Ella

Summary

The Colorado Supreme Court held that the common law litigation privilege for attorney publicity in pending class action litigation is not defeated by the fact that class members' identities are ascertainable from the defendant's records through discovery, rejecting the court of appeals' 'ascertainability exception.' Reviewing the applicability of the privilege de novo under Restatement (Second) of Torts § 586, the court concluded that five press statements—made the same day the federal wage-and-hour class action was filed—which merely repeated, summarized, or paraphrased the complaint's allegations and served to notify the public, absent class members, and witnesses about the litigation, were absolutely privileged. The court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals division and remanded for further proceedings.