PJC Business 2024

PJC 106.3

T ORTIOUS I NTERFERENCE

Justification, which may be an affirmative defense to a claim of interference with an existing contract (see PJC 106.2), operates differently in this context: it is a defense “only to the extent” that it would negate what the plaintiff tries to prove as the inde pendent tort or unlawfulness. For example, if the plaintiff tries to prove interference by means of defamatory statements, the defendant may argue that the statements were “protected by a complete or qualified privilege.” Sturges , 52 S.W.3d at 727.

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