What is qualified privilege in employment law?
Ontario, Canada
The following excerpt is from Cusson v. Quan, 2007 ONCA 771 (CanLII):
Employment references, business and credit reports, and complaints to police, regulatory bodies or public authorities are classic examples of occasions of qualified privilege. The rationale for qualified privilege is that on such occasions, "no matter how harsh, hasty, untrue, or libellous the publication . . . the amount of public inconvenience from the restriction of freedom of speech or writing would far outbalance that arising from the infliction of private injury" (Huntley v. Ward (1859), 6 C.B. (N.S.) 514, at p. 517).
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