5.6 INTERFERENCE WITH ONE'S OWN CONTRACT
5.601 Third-Party or "Three-Actor" Requirement. The general rule is that a party to a contract or other business relationship cannot be held liable in tort for interfering with that relationship. 61 One cannot tortiously
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interfere with one's own contract while acting alone. 62 Rather, a tortious interference claim requires the existence of three actors—the two parties to the contract and a third party who interferes with, or induces one of the parties to breach, that contract. 63
5.602 Principal-Agent. Under Virginia law, an agent cannot as a matter of law tortiously interfere with a principal's contract. 64 But if it can be shown that an agent of a party to the contract was acting outside the scope of employment in tortiously interfering with the contract, then the aggrieved party may be entitled to recover damages. 65
5.603 Defendant's Interference with Own Contract. While a tortious interference claim generally occurs where a defendant interferes with a contract between the plaintiff and a third party, there is one particular circumstance where a defendant may be liable for interfering with the defendant's own contractual or business relationship with the plaintiff. Plaintiffs
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have been permitted to claim that an employer and an independent third party tortiously interfered with the plaintiff's employment relationship by conspiring to develop a pretext under which the plaintiff could be discharged. 66
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Notes:
[61] Fox v. Deese, 234 Va. 412, 427, 362 S.E.2d 699, 708 (1987); Chaves v. Johnson, 230 Va. 112, 120, 335 S.E.2d 97, 102 (1985); see also Cole v. Daoud, Nos. 2:15cv419, 2:15cv479, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39749, at *27-28 (E.D. Va. Feb. 17, 2016) (rejecting a claim for tortious interference because the named party was in privity of...
