Lazier v. Pulitzer Publishing Company

SEILER, Presiding Judge.

Appeal from a jury verdict and judgment in favor of defendant in a libel action in which plaintiff sought $100,000 actual and $250,000 punitive damages based on two letters written by defendant’s editors. Under the pleadings, defendant did not assert truth as an affirmative defense, but instead alleged qualified privilege, that the letters were written in good faith and in the belief that the matters therein stated were true. We reverse and remand.

Plaintiff, first as a free-lance writer and then as an employee, works for defendant corporation in preparing an…