Macris v. Richardson (Summary)

PEER REVIEW PRIVILEGE

Macris v. Richardson, No. CVA08-004 (Guam Terr. May 10, 2010)

The Supreme Court of the Territory of Guam vacated a trial court’s grant of summary judgment which found that a memorandum which triggered a peer review proceeding was absolutely privileged.

An emergency room physician sent a memorandum to hospital and physician leaders regarding alleged deficiencies in the treatment provided by a second physician. The second physician filed a libel action against the emergency room physician, who asserted that the memorandum was absolutely privileged, while the plaintiff-physician alleged that the memorandum was merely entitled to qualified privilege status. The Supreme Court of the Territory of Guam held that since the memorandum was a communication, and not an “act” performed during peer review, the qualified privilege does not apply. However, the court also found that without more facts, it could not assume that the peer review process was an “official proceeding” entitled to an absolute privilege. The court adopted a two-part test, vacated the trial court’s grant of summary judgment, and remanded the case to the trial court.