Newton v. Spence

Appellant, a former part-time employee of Sears Roebuck & Co. (Sears), was awarded conpensatory and punitive damages aggregating $42,500 after a jury trial under a five-count declaration alleging assault and battery, false arrest, false imprisonment, slander and malicious prosecution. The granting of Sears’ motions for judgments n.o.v. reduced appellant’s recovery to $11,500. Here he seeks primarily the restoration of the difference of $31,000, representing punitive damages against Sears for $6,000 under Count IV (slander) and $25,000 under Count V (malicious prosecution).

We conclude that…