Keven A. Forth v. the Kroger Company

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION
File Name: 12a0609n.06
No. 10-2465
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
KEVEN A. FORTH,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
THE KROGER COMPANY,
Defendant-Appellee.
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ON APPEAL FROM THE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT
COURT FOR THE EASTERN
DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
O P I N I O N
BEFORE: BOGGS, NORRIS, and KETHLEDGE, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM. Plaintiff Keven Forth was terminated from his job as grocery manager at
a Kroger store in Lake Orion, Michigan. He was fired for theft at the conclusion of a brief
investigation into his purchase of marked-down meat and electronics from the store at which he
worked. The propriety of Forth’s termination is not at issue here. Instead, Forth claims that Kroger
defamed him by disseminating the basis of his termination to his former coworkers and the general
public. The district court granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, holding that
plaintiff failed to specifically plead facts regarding Kroger’s publication of a defamatory statement,
as required by Michigan law. On appeal, Forth claims that he presented sufficient specific evidence
to support his claims for defamation and “compelled self-defamation.”
We have reviewed the record on appeal and have carefully considered the arguments made
by the parties in their briefs. Having done so, we conclude that the district court properly granted

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No. 10-2465
judgment to defendant and affirm based upon the reasoning set forth in its Order filed on October
5, 2010.
The judgment of the district court is affirmed.
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