Bongiovi v. Sullivan

OPINION

By the Court,

Rose, C. J.:

Julie Jones sought cosmetic surgery and consulted with various plastic surgeons, including appellant Joseph Bongiovi, Jr., M.D., and respondent Walter Sullivan, M.D. On two separate occasions, while Jones was consulting with Bongiovi, Bongiovi told Jones that Sullivan had recently killed a woman while performing the same surgery Jones was scheduled for. Jones canceled her surgery with Sullivan and, sometime later, told Sullivan what Bongiovi had said.

Sullivan sued Bongiovi for defamation, arguing that Bongiovi’s statements were slanderous per se. Following a…