Estes v. Lawton-Byrne-Bruner Insurance Agency Co.

BRUCE NORMILE, Special Judge.

This is an action for libel. At the trial the jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff in the amount of Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) punitive damages. No actual damages were awarded.

The defendant’s timely motion for judgment in accordance with its motion for a directed verdict was thereafter sustained by the trial court on the ground that a qualified privilege existed for the alleged defamation and that there was no evidence to support a submission to the jury requiring a finding of actual malice to overcome the privilege.

From this order of the trial…