Campbell v. Lyon

26 F. App'x 183
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedDecember 27, 2001
Docket00-2275
StatusUnpublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 26 F. App'x 183 (Campbell v. Lyon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Campbell v. Lyon, 26 F. App'x 183 (4th Cir. 2001).

Opinions

[186]*186OPINION

PER CURIAM.

Larry Campbell, Eastern Kentucky Resources (“EKR”) and Blue Ash Development, Inc. (“Blue Ash”) (collectively, “Campbell”) filed this suit against John Lyon,1 Campbell’s former business associate, alleging various counts of invasion of privacy, tortious interference with business and economic relations, abuse of process, and conspiracy. Campbell claims that Lyon organized and directed the dissemination of private, harmful, and/or false information about him to third parties who conspired with Lyon by further disseminating the information to members of the public. Campbell claims that Lyon’s activities caused the failure of a landfill project in Magoffin County, Kentucky, in which Campbell was the principal investor.

Campbell appeals the district court’s decision granting summary judgment to Lyon. We affirm.

I.

The Magoffin County landfill project began in September 1991, when EKR formed a joint venture with Blue Ash and Royal-ton Resources (“Royalton”) for the purpose of developing and operating a municipal solid waste landfill in Magoffin County. William Polan was affiliated with Royalton and, ultimately, Campbell alleged that Polan misused substantial amounts of the joint venture’s funds. The parties eventually terminated the joint venture and removed Polan from the project.

Campbell alleges that Lyon and Polan formed a conspiracy to effectuate the failure of the landfill project by spreading inflammatory information about Campbell. Campbell claims that Lyon, through Polan, disseminated copies of a complaint filed against Campbell, disseminated Campbell’s criminal record, that Lyon made lump sum payments to Polan or Polaris wife totaling approximately $50,000, that' Lyon caused the arrest of an EKR official during an open house event intended to promote the landfill project, and that Polan generally made defamatory statements about Campbell.2

On March 24,1998, Campbell voluntarily withdrew four tortious interference and conspiracy claims. Upon Lyon’s motion for summary judgment, the district court granted summary judgment against Campbell’s remaining tortious interference claims, explaining that Campbell failed to show that Lyon’s actions resulted in the landfill project’s failure. The court held that the project more likely than not failed because of grass-roots opposition to the project, Campbell’s inability to obtain regulatory approval, and a Kentucky Supreme Court ruling invalidating the agreement between Magoffin County and Campbell to develop the landfill. The district court also granted summary judgment against Campbell’s invasion of privacy claims, explaining that the information Lyon allegedly disseminated about Campbell was true and public. Finally, the district court granted summary judgment against Campbell’s abuse of process claims. Campbell claimed that Lyon previously filed a RICO action in Maryland federal court and abused that process by providing copies of the complaint to third parties. The district court rejected this claim, stating that [187]*187it was “merely a regurgitation of the invasion of privacy and tortious interference claims.” Campbell v. Lyon, Civil Action No. AW-97-904, Mem. Op. at 15 (D.Md. 2000). The court also noted that no authority exists for the proposition “that the mere dissemination of public documents filed in court constitutes sufficient basis for an abuse of process claim.” Id.

II.

We review a grant of summary judgment de novo. Higgins v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., 863 F.2d 1162, 1167 (4th Cir.1988). Summary judgment is appropriate only when there are no material facts in dispute and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). A material fact is in dispute when its existence or non-existence could lead a jury to different outcomes. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A genuine issue exists when there is sufficient evidence on which a reasonable jury could return a verdict in favor of the non-moving party. Id. Mere speculation by the non-moving party cannot create a genuine issue of material fact. Beale v. Hardy, 769 F.2d 213, 214 (4th Cir.1985). The Court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, which, in this case, is Campbell. Smith v. Virginia Commonwealth Univ., 84 F.3d 672, 675 (4th Cir.1996).

III.

To establish a tortious interference claim under Maryland law,3 a plaintiff must prove: (1) that the defendant committed an “ ‘intentional and wilful act[ ];’ ” (2) that was “ ‘calculated to cause damage to the plaintiffs in their lawful business;’ ” (3) was “ ‘done with the unlawful purpose to cause such damage and loss, without right or justifiable cause on the part of the defendants (which constitutes malice);’ ” and (4) that “ ‘actual damage and loss resulted].’ ” Willner v. Silverman, 109 Md. 341, 71 A. 962, 964 (1909) (quoting Walker v. Cronin, 107 Mass. 555, 562 (1871)). See also Lyon v. Campbell, 120 Md.App. 412, 707 A.2d 850 (1998) (same). To establish causation in a tortious interference action, a plaintiff must prove that the defendant’s wrongful or unlawful act caused the harm done to the business that was the target of the interference. Alexander v. Evander, 336 Md. 635, 650 A.2d 260, 269 (1994). See also Macklin v. Logan Associates, 334 Md. 287, 639 A.2d 112, 119 (1994) (“to be actionable, the improper or wrongful conduct must induce the breach or termination of the contract”).

The district court correctly ruled that other factors, rather than Lyon’s actions, brought about the end of Campbell’s involvement in the landfill project. As the district court explained,

there was no shortage of community attention to an involvement in the trash landfill issue. The proposed project appears to have been a highly politically charged issue. In fact, the grass-roots opposition to the project, its inability to obtain regulatory approval, and the Kentucky Supreme Court’s ruling (that the agreement between the county and EKR was not a valid agreement) are the likely causes of the landfill project’s failure.

Campbell, Mem. Op. at 9.

In Eastern Kentucky Resources v. Arnett, 934 S.W.2d 270 (Ky.1996), the Kentucky Supreme Court voided the agreement between EKR and Magoffin County [188]*188to build the landfill. It is undisputed that Lyon was not involved in that litigation in any way. Additionally, it is undisputed that Campbell never tried to renegotiate the agreement after the decision, thereby effectively ending Campbell’s involvement with the landfill project.

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Related

Byington v. NBRS Financial Bank
903 F. Supp. 2d 342 (D. Maryland, 2012)
Lyon v. Campbell
33 F. App'x 659 (Fourth Circuit, 2002)

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26 F. App'x 183, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/campbell-v-lyon-ca4-2001.