Krajewski v. Gusoff

74 A.3d 119, 621 Pa. 117, 2013 WL 4603971, 2013 Pa. LEXIS 1910

Opinion

ORDER

PER CURIAM.

AND NOW, this 29th day of August, 2013, the Petition for Allowance of Appeal is GRANTED. The issues, as stated by Petitioner, are:

a. May a Philadelphia City Councilwoman recover for defamation based on an editorial, political cartoon, and letter to the editor that criticized her for accepting and keeping a $300,000 “DROP” retirement payment from the City (without actually retiring) at a time when the City was so financially distressed that a treasured library in her district was forced to close?

b. Does Pennsylvania recognize a cause of action for false light invasion of privacy by an elected official for publications discussing her public, not private, actions?

c. If Pennsylvania recognizes a false light invasion of privacy claim in such circumstances, may the claim proceed where the court has found that the First Amendment bars a defamation action based on the same publications?

Justice McCAFFERY did not participate in the consideration of this matter.