United States District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania
DR. LAWRENCE P. RUDOLPH, D.D.S.; Plaintiff,
v.
SAFARI CLUB INTERNATIONAL, Defendant,
MEMORANDUM OPINION [1]
CYNTHIA REED EDDY, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE.
I.
INTRODUCTION
Presently
before the court is Defendant Safari Club International's
(“Defendant” or “SCI”) motion for
summary judgment. (ECF No. 74). The motion is fully briefed
and ripe for disposition. Accordingly, for the reasons that
follow, SCI's motion will be granted in part and denied
in part.
II.
BACKGROUND
Plaintiff
initiated this action in 2012 against SCI for allegedly
defaming him.[2]
SCI is
a nonprofit organization with approximately 55, 000 members
in 26 countries and its goal is protecting hunter's
rights and promoting wildlife conservation. SCI has many
chapters in Pennsylvania, and one of those chapters is
located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. SCI has approximately
320 members on its Board of Directors (“Board” or
“BOD”) and a ten-member Executive Committee. The
Board is comprised of Officers, Past Presidents' Counsel
Members, Regional Representatives, Presidents of SCI or SCI
Foundation chapters, Directors-at-Large, International
Directors and Honorary International Directors. The Board
holds three regular meetings each year. All SCI Officers and
Board Members owe SCI a duty of loyalty, duty of care and a
duty of good faith and fair dealing. SCI has a Board of
Inquiry (BOI) committee of five members that is in charge of
investigating and ruling on issues related to member
misconduct.
SCI's
bylaws provide the following regarding membership
qualifications:
D. Membership Qualifications.
Any individual, family or business subscribing to the
missions, objections, purposes and policies of this
Corporation, of good moral character, and demonstrating an
active interest in both hunting and in wildlife conservation
may be admitted to membership in the Corporation subject to
the terms of these Bylaws.
E. Member in Good Standing.
A member in good standing is one who satisfies the membership
qualifications, who exercises wildlife conservation
principles, who is current in the payment of dues, fees and
assessments to SCI and, if applicable, to one of its
authorized Chapters, and who abides by the rules, regulations
and qualifications of membership established by SCI or such
Chapter.
Joint
Statement of Material Fact (“JSMF”) (ECF No. 91)
at ¶ 6; Article III, § 1 (ECF No. 79-1 at 128).
Plaintiff
lives in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Plaintiff is a lifelong
hunter and became a member of SCI's Pittsburgh Chapter in
1984.[3] After joining SCI's Pittsburgh
Chapter, Plaintiff held the following positions within SCI
including:
(1) President of the Pittsburgh Chapter;
(2) Director-at-Large, which is a Board position that enables
an SCI member to become familiar with the Board and
“groom” that individual for future elected
positions and volunteer retention;
(3) Director of the Safari Club International Foundation
(SCIF), which is SCI's 501(c)(3) organization;
(4) Chairman of SCI's Political Action Committee
(“SCI-PAC”), which promotes SCI's mission and
political objectives through Congressional representatives
and raises funds for SCI's lobbyists;
(5) Marketing Chairman in which Plaintiff worked in
conjunction with other committee members and SCI's
professional staff on recruiting members, fundraising and
informing the hunting community-at-large about SCI's
mission;
(6) National Fundraising Chairman in which Plaintiff led the
design and implementation of SCI and SCIF's fundraising
efforts;
(7) Two-terms as President of SCI's Board of Directors in
which Plaintiff campaigned for and was elected by the Board
for two separate terms as SCI's President;
(8) Past President's Council. By virtue of his SCI
presidency, Plaintiff was on the Past President's Council
and therefore had life tenure as a member of the Board; and
(9) Judge for the SCI International Hunting Award.
In
addition to holding those positions within SCI, Plaintiff
frequently consulted with other hunters regarding places to
hunt and outfitter recommendations, belonged to other
non-profit hunting and conservation organizations, was the
spokesperson, President, Secretary and Treasurer of Weatherby
Foundation International, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation
that educates the non-hunting public on the beneficial role
of ethical sport hunting and its contribution to wildlife
conservation, was the emcee to the Weatherby Award dinner
gala, received awards for hunting and conservation, and gave
speeches to and interviews with various media sources.
On July
11, 2011, SCI and Camelback Consulting, LLC, a company owned
by Plaintiff, entered into a Spokesperson/Director of Public
Outreach Agreement whereby Plaintiff, under the title of
“Chief Communications Officer, ” began working as
the worldwide ambassador and spokesperson for SCI and its
mission. As spokesperson, Plaintiff agreed to appear on
behalf of SCI as ambassador and spokesperson of SCI and its
purposes and missions at various events or outings such as
sportsmen and hunting shows and conventions, firearms and
other hunting equipment shows and expositions. In this role,
Plaintiff attended and presented at various events. For
example, he spoke at the United Nations on the topic of
hunting, appeared on NBC/CNBC to discuss the economics of
hunting in Africa, appeared on National Public Radio and was
interviewed on the controversy of “preserve” or
“high fenced” hunting, appeared on Channel 5 News
in Phoenix, Arizona for an interview on the controversy of
“captive” hunting, appeared on Fox News to
discuss a “controversial” black bear hunt in New
Jersey, and produced and appeared in videos SCI's annual
hunters' convention and SCI's Political Action
committee to advance SCI's agenda and mission.
A.
Plaintiff's Extramarital Relationships
Plaintiff
was engaged in two extramarital relationships while he held
office for SCI or was on official business for
SCI.[4]
At some time between February and April 2011, Plaintiff
attended a fundraiser in Atlanta for SCI's Atlanta
Chapter where he was introduced to Ann McCoy by SCI member
Paul Babaz. According to Plaintiff, Babaz wanted Plaintiff to
meet McCoy and provide her with some information about
traveling and hunting in Africa. After the fundraiser,
Plaintiff remained in contact with McCoy and while on another
trip to Atlanta, met her for dinner and cocktails and kissed
McCoy “maybe twice” in the parking lot. Pl. Dep.
196:18-25, 196:2. Plaintiff and McCoy also exchanged intimate
text messages.
In the
summer of 2009, Plaintiff traveled to Kenai River Classic in
Alaska. He was accompanied by Lori Milliron, whom Plaintiff
identified in his registration paperwork as his
administrative assistant. Milliron was a dental hygienist by
profession and worked for Plaintiff's dental practice at
the time she accompanied him to Kenai. According to
Plaintiff, Milliron accompanied him as a “medical
aide” because he had a heart condition and Milliron
“had some training in CPR, advanced CPR, advanced
cardio life support” and knew how to use a heart
defibrillator. JSMF (ECF No. 91) at ¶ 35; Pl. Dep.,
185:2-12 (Tab 7). In conjunction with this trip, SCI member
and Regional Representative Eddie Grasser suggested that
Plaintiff meet with then-Governor Sarah Palin. Milliron
accompanied Plaintiff to meet Governor Palin. Plaintiff and
Milliron shared a multi-room cabin together during the Kenai
River Classic. No. one else stayed in the cabin with them.
B.
Plaintiff's ...