Reference no: EM134010234

Jackson Technical Institute (JTI) is a new online university specializing in marketing and strategic communications. After conducting market research, JTI realized the Penn State's World Campus is its biggest competitor. In an attempt to compete with Penn State and attract more students, JTI developed an online and television marketing campaign with a budget of $3 million. Penn State is a world-famous university consistently among the top 50 public universities in the United States with an overall annual budget of more than $4 billion.

JTI's advertisements included the following statement:

JTI prides itself on being the best. We have the best advertising faculty, the best advertising program, and the best advertising students. The other guys claim to live in a "happy valley," but they spend more money promoting their lion mascot than they do investing in technology and quality instruction. Most of their online courses are taught by untrained graduate students or senior faculty who cut corners in their teaching to spend more time writing research grants. If you want a high quality advertising degree, enroll in JTI today.

Penn State University sues JTI for product disparagement. In addition, Adam Smith, a full-time member of Penn State's advertising faculty, sues JTI for defamation. Penn State's advertising faculty is composed of five full-time faculty and three part-time faculty members. Twenty percent of courses are taught by graduate students, who must complete 5 hours of online training before being allowed to teach a course. However, some graduate students serve as teaching assistants and grade assignments without any training. Of the five full-time faculty, two are currently working on research grants, but neither of those faculty members is teaching an online class. Adam Smith is a senior faculty member, and he is currently writing two research grants. Over the past 10 years, Penn State has spent $50 million per year ($500 million total), all of which features the Nittany Lion mascot. Over the last 3 years, Penn State has spent a total of $155 million upgrading its technology (approximately $52 million per year).

JTI asks for your expert opinion on whether they should settle the lawsuits or fight in court. Analyze Penn State's product disparagement case and Adam Smith's defamation case using the criteria and steps discussed in the lesson. Make sure you apply all of the elements of a libel case as well as the possible defenses in your discussion. We will assume there is "causation," so you don't need to discuss that element. For each question below, make sure you explain your answer.

Questions

1. Has a defamatory statement been made regarding Penn State's product? Explain which specific statements are defamatory and why they cause harm to Penn State's reputation.

2. Has the defamatory statement about the university been published?

3. Is there identification of the university? Explain.

4. Is there falsity? Explain whether any falsity would be considered materially relevant.

5. What level of fault will Penn State need to prove and why? Make sure you discuss how the level of fault is determined.