Summary of the case Fagan v. Faulkner as decided by the Mississippi Supreme Court on Thursday. The dispute arose between Judy Faulkner and Dr. Bryan Fagan at the North Mississippi Surgery Center in Tupelo, Mississippi. Fagan, who owns a part of the center and performs surgeries there, had a disagreement with Faulkner, who works as a clinical manager responsible for scheduling surgeries. The conflict stemmed from a situation where Fagan wanted to swap surgeries but was denied the use of a specific piece of equipment by Faulkner.
During a surgery, Fagan used profane language towards Faulkner, causing her to file a claim against him. The court ruled that Fagan’s words did not imply a lack of professional capacity on Faulkner’s part, therefore not constituting defamation. The dissenting opinion disagreed, citing Fagan’s admission of implying Faulkner’s inability to do her job.
Fagan responded to Judy’s complaint by admitting that he made comments about her job performance and called her a derogatory name. Rule 11(d) of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure states that averments in a pleading are considered admitted if not denied in a responsive pleading.
During the trial, Dr. Fagan acknowledged criticizing Judy’s job performance in front of others. Witnesses testified that Judy was competent at her job, with even Dr. Fagan reluctantly admitting she did an adequate job. This contradicts his earlier statement that she was unable to perform her job, constituting slander per se.
The focus should not solely be on the vulgar language used by Dr. Fagan, as his comments went beyond that. Judy did not claim the vulgarity attacked her professional abilities. The court should consider all evidence and affirm the trial court’s verdict in Judy’s favor.
For more details, including the majority’s response to the dissent, and a discussion of the case procedure and precedents, refer to the full document here. Mark Nolan Halbert and Brandi Elizabeth Soper are representing Fagan in this case.
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