123625P.pdf   02/20/2014  Dave Thomas  v.  United Steelworkers Local 1938
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  12-3625
   U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota - Minneapolis   
   [PUBLISHED] [Shepherd, Author, with Gruender and Beam, Circuit Judges] 
   Civil Case - labor. Decision to abandon all but defamation and breach of 
   union constitution claims in response to motion for summary judgment did 
   not divest the district court of federal jurisdiction. District court did 
   not abuse its discretion in exercising supplemental jurisdiction over 
   state law claims. Because genuine disputes of material fact exist, the 
   grant of summary judgment on Thomas's defamation claim under Minnesota law 
   is reversed. Although some of Malek's statements involve subjective view 
   or opinion, other statements were capable of being proven false and were 
   sufficiently inaccurate to create a dispute as to their truth. Statements 
   were also not subject to a qualified privilege, as the investigation of 
   one incident was not the proper occasion to make statements about prior 
   behavior. The failure to investigate prior complaints before making 
   disparaging statements prevented the statements from being based on 
   reasonable or probable cause.