Downing v. Burns

MAJORITY OPINION

TRACY CHRISTOPHER, Justice.

Before Deborah Downing resigned from her job as an assistant to realtor Don Burns, she copied several pages from the office policy and procedures manual she had written for him. After they learned of this, Don and his wife Sherry told several people that Downing stole from them, and that they would sue anyone who employed her if the material was not returned. When Downing was fired from her two subsequent jobs, she sued the Burnses for tortious interference and defamation, and they countersued for theft of trade secrets. The jury found in Downing’s…