Blesedell v. Chillicothe Telephone Co., No. 15-3542 (6th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseBlesedell, employed by Chillicothe Telephone Company since 1996, was terminated in 2012 for falsifying a timecard and impersonating a customer in telephone calls to the company. Blesedell sued the company and his union, asserting a hybrid 29 U.S.C. 185 (section 301)-fair-representation claim. Blesedell also asserted a defamation claim against the company’s human resources manager, based on the manager’s statements to union members and a police officer. The Sixth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the defendants, finding that the union did not breach its duty of fair representation during the grievance process, and the human resource manager’s statements at issue were true or were protected by a qualified privilege.
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