Lundberg v. Prudential Insurance Co. of America

SOMERVILLE, Presiding Judge.

This litigation arose out of plaintiff-husband’s termination as sales manager for defendant under a contract of employment terminable at will. The sole issue on appeal is whether plaintiffs’ evidence supported submission of their claims for compensatory and punitive damages under the prima facie tort theory. The trial court did not think so, as it directed a verdict in favor of defendant at the close of plaintiffs’ evidence.

The elements of a prima facie tort, per the landmark case of Porter v. Crawford & Co., 611 S.W.2d 265, 268 (Mo.App.1980), the most definitive…