To: Dr.

Swanson
From: Darya Zal, Piney Woods Lumber Company
Subject: Piney Woods Matt Martinez Lawsuit
Date: February 11, 2015

Introduction
A few months ago, Piney Woods Lumber Company required the
services of their public relations professional, Bob Burruss, and personnel
director, Jim Haskins, in order to discover why their companys production
values were steadily slipping. As a result, Haskins and Burruss travelled to
the companys Mount Reavis site to discover that production staff was
constantly drinking, and always bored as a result of the isolation of the
sector to the city. In order to fix the low production rates, Piney Woods
quickly updated the living arrangements of their workers to be more
comfortable, built many recreational activities so each employee always had
something to do, gave employees paid time off every month to visit their
families, and created a alcohol treatment program for all those who had
difficulties moving on from their alcoholic tendencies. Though there was
much success in the morale of the production team as a result of many of
the changes, there were still many employees that abused alcohol due their
employment, and refused to sign up for the companys new rehabilitation
program.
In order to fix this problem, Burruss went to the employee, Matt
Martinez, who had confided in Burruss before about his history with alcohol.
Martinez, 30, claimed that he was arrested with a DUI and convicted for
manslaughter by the age of 18, and was married, given a child, and divorced
all in the two years following that. He confided that due to his constant
drinking, Martinez was unable to keep a job, and his drunken states made his
ex-wife fearful for the safety of her small child. Matt has been in alcohol
treatment for many years now, and has not had a single drink since he
joined, allowing his ex-wife to trust him with visitation of their son. He claims
to look at his job at Piney Woods as a part of his new, sober life that he plans
to maintain.
As part of his plan to promote the alcohol treatment program, Matt and
his supervisor had granted Burruss permission to write a human-interest
piece on him for the company newsletter. However, one month later, Piney
Woods Lumber Company, Jim Haskins and Bob Burruss are all facing a
lawsuit filed by Matt Martinez about the piece.
Illegality and the Lawsuit
Matt Martinez is suing for defamation caused by the piece, mentioning
his manslaughter conviction and prior DUI. He claims that the story damaged
his reputation, and exposed personal files that were supposed to remain
confidential. Though the story did express the facts of his history, the piece
was oriented toward Martinezs recovery, and the blissful life he had

developed for himself as a result. However, Martinez did not find comfort
from that, and believes the piece caused damage between him and his coworkers. But in the end, Martinez did give permission for the writing of this
article, and since the manslaughter and DUI conviction was originally stated
in the interview between Martinez and Burruss rather than the notes in
Martinezs personal files, Martinezs lawsuit is not justified or particularly
valid.
Prevention of Future Lawsuits
Piney Woods is taking serious precautions toward this case, and will
probably refrain from publishing any human-interest pieces in their company
newsletter in the future that could steer toward any sort of defamation. It has
also been brought to Burrusss attention that in order to prevent such
misunderstandings from occurring in the future, a written permission
statement from the person at whom the article refers to would be more
helpful and certifiable against any future legal action. Also, Burruss will also
be sending such statements to either article headliner himself, and/or his
supervisor to proofread and send concerns before sent to publish. However,
Piney Woods, Burruss and Haskins are all claiming that no harm was done,
and all precautions were taken since both important members of the article
had given permission for writing and publishing of the story of Matt Martinez.
Though no intentional harm was done, and most preventative measures were
taken, it will be best to take a few extra steps to make sure such an incident
will not occur again.
Conclusion
As a result of this lawsuit, Piney Woods Lumber Company is taking
further precautions to make sure each employee feels safe, unthreatened
and happy while working for their company. There will most likely be no
personal lawsuits filed, for no individual did anything separate of what was
asked and approved of by the employees and company itself. This case will
most than likely be settled in the future with little to no damages to either
party, but it is always best to remain prepared for all future circumstances
that may arise, either from or as a result of this case.
We appreciate your time and help with this matter, Dr. Swanson, and
we hope all matters will be negotiated and solved quickly and efficiently.
Nothing is more important to Piney Woods Lumber Company than the
satisfaction and happiness of their employees, and we hope we can take
steps to grow without any more misunderstandings regarding legal action.