CJI-Civ. 22:18

(When the defendant published the statement[s] in question [insert applicable

pronoun] was privileged to do so, because [describe the basic purpose of the privilege,

including what and whose interest the privilege is intended to protect, e.g., “an employee is

allowed to inform his or her employer of wrongdoing of a fellow employee for the purpose of

protecting the employer’s business”].)

(The defendant has the burden of proving the affirmative defense of privilege. If you

find that [describe the facts which, if proved, would give rise to the privilege as a matter of

law], then you must find that when the defendant published the statement[s] in question,

[insert applicable pronoun] was privileged to do so because [describe the purpose of the

privilege, including what and whose interest the privilege is intended to protect].)

(Because) (If) the defendant was privileged to publish the statement(s), then the

defendant is not legally responsible to the plaintiff and your verdict must be for the

defendant (unless the defendant abused the privilege. The existence of a privilege does not

protect the defendant if [insert applicable pronoun] abused the privilege).

(The affirmative defense of privilege is lost if the plaintiff proves the defendant

abused the privilege. The defendant abused the privilege if you find that when [insert

applicable pronoun] published the statement[s] in question:

1. [Insert applicable pronoun] knew the statement[s] to be false, or acted with

reckless disregard for whether the statement[s] [was] [were] false; or

2. [Insert applicable pronoun] acted primarily for purposes other than the protection

of the interest for which the privilege was given; or

3. [Insert applicable pronoun] knowingly published the statement[s] to [a person]

[persons] to whom its publication was not otherwise privileged, unless [insert applicable

pronoun] reasonably believed that the publication was a proper means of communicating

such matter to the person[s] to whom its publication was privileged; or

4. [Insert applicable pronoun] did not reasonably believe the publication of the

statement[s] to be necessary to accomplish the purpose for which the privilege was given.)