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Crown Anderson Inc. v. Georgia Gulf Corp.

Defendant's statements about its particular boiler failing to meet specifications did not constitute slander per se under O.C.G.A. § 51-5-4 a 3, because they pertained to a single instance or transaction.

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The trial court granted summary judgment to defendant on plaintiffs’ claim for slander per se. The first question on appeal is whether the trial court’s findings in an earlier order denying summary judgment to plaintiffs precluded the court from granting defendant’s later motion for summary judgment. We hold that the initial findings did not preclude the subsequent judgment. The second question is whether statements about the failure of a particular boiler purchased by defendant and installed by plaintiffs to perform properly can constitute slander per se under OCGA § 51-5-4 3. As we hold they cannot, we affirm the grant of summary judgment to defendant.

Andersen 2000 Inc. installed a waste boiler for Georgia Gulf Corporation, with which both Andersen 2000 and Georgia Gulf were dissatisfied. Andersen 2000 sued the boiler manufacturer in Louisiana for damages, and in turn Georgia Gulf sued Andersen 2000, also in Louisiana, for damages. A reporter for a business magazine telephoned Georgia Gulf for information for an article on Crown Andersen, the parent company of Andersen 2000, and inquired about the Georgia Gulf lawsuit. A spokesman for Georgia Gulf told the reporter, “What we are claiming is the boiler never performed up to the specifications listed. It doesn’t entirely combust the material.”

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