The high court ruled that Michael O'Connor, the former coach of the Lehi High School girls' basketball team, is not a public official. That means O'Connor does not have to prove that allegedly defamatory statements about him were made with malice, a difficult standard to meet.

"We refuse to classify Mr. O'Connor's position as one endowed with 'apparent importance' and therefore decline to extend public officials status to a high school basketball coach," Justice Ronald Nehring wrote for the court.

In reaching its unanimous decision, the Supreme Court did not address whether the parents' complaints were libelous.

The ruling notes that a string of U.S. Supreme Court opinions, starting with New York Times v. Sullivan in 1964, has mandated that public officials and public figures can get damages for defamatory comments only if the statements were motivated by "actual malice."

There is no malice requirement for plaintiffs who have not acquired public official status by choice or circumstances. Rather, they have to prove that the speakers knew the statements were false or acted with "reckless disregard" concerning their falsity.

O'Connor - who coached the Lehi Pioneers basketball team for three years until being removed from that position in September 2004 - was the subject of numerous complaints from parents, extended family members and friends of team members. These detractors criticized his coaching demeanor, questioned his use of travel money and accused him of giving preferential treatment to one player both on and off the court.

The group took their complaints first to school administrators, then to the Alpine School Board. The board took no formal action against O'Connor but the Lehi High administration dismissed him as coach, citing as grounds his refusal to promise that he would not deny playing time to players in retaliation against their relatives.

O'Connor then filed a suit accusing 27 parents and others of making defamatory statements to get him fired because they were jealous of the playing time received by the team's top player.

A judge granted judgment in favor of the parents in January 2006, ruling that O'Connor is a public official and that he had produced no evidence the defendants acted with actual malice.

The case now goes back to the 4th District Court in Provo.

pmanson@sltrib.com