Thaleaha McBee v. Team Industries, Inc.

Summary

The court held that the statutory phrase "absolutely privileged" creates immunity from civil liability for information submitted to the unemployment agency when that information is the subject matter or basis of a claim, rather than a general rule barring its admission in evidence. Because McBee’s discrimination claim arose from Team’s workplace conduct and existed independently of the questionnaire, the questionnaire was wrongly excluded, but the error was harmless because other trial evidence established the same facts. The court therefore affirmed on different grounds.