Braun v. Bureau of State Audits

In Braun v. Bureau of State Audits (1998) 67 Cal.App.4th 1382, the former medical director of a research and training center at the University's San Francisco campus sued the Bureau of State Audits (the Bureau) for defamation and other torts after the state auditor issued an investigative audit report indicating, inter alia, that she had "'grossly mismanaged'" the center, entered into contracts despite conflicts of interest, and falsified various financial records relating to the center. ( Id. at p. 1386.) (According to the defendants, the facts underlying Braun triggered the Regents' decision in 1995 to audit all university support groups.) The appellate court affirmed a judgment of dismissal after demurrer in favor of the Bureau, concluding that the Bureau's report was absolutely privileged under Civil Code section 47(b). (Braun, at p. 1394.) The court's determination that the Bureau's investigation and audit was an "'official proceeding authorized by law'" was based at least in part on the fact that the Bureau was authorized by statute to investigate and report on improper governmental activities, including those at the University. (Braun, supra, 67 Cal.App.4th at p. 1388.) In Braun v. Bureau of State Audits, the Bureau of State Audits investigated a training center at the University of California, San Francisco, where the plaintiff worked. In her complaint for civil damages, the plaintiff alleged the Bureau had defamed her in the audit report issued at the conclusion of the investigation. The trial court granted the Bureau's demurrer without leave to amend and the Court of Appeal affirmed. ( Id. at pp. 1386-1388.) The court rejected the same argument Moradi raises here that the term "'official proceeding'" in Civil Code section 47, subdivision (b) does not "'reach beyond proceedings which resemble judicial and legislative proceedings.'" (Braun, supra, 67 Cal.App.4th at p. 1389.) "Our holding that statements made in furtherance of Reporting Act audits are absolutely privileged under Civil Code section 47 is consistent with many other cases which have reached the same conclusion with respect to statements made in or about other types of governmental investigations. . . . . . . One policy underlying the absolute privilege for statements made in governmental investigations and reports of misconduct 'is to assure utmost freedom of communication between citizens and public authorities whose responsibility is to investigate and remedy wrongdoing.'" (67 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1389-1390.)