Hawkins Ex Rel. Hawkins v. Multimedia, Inc.

Ness, Chief Justice:

This is an action by a minor child, respondent Craig Hawkins, against appellant Multimedia for invasion of privacy. Craig obtained a verdict against Multimedia for $1,500 actual and $25,000 punitive damages. We affirm.

Multimedia published a story in its newspaper concerning the problem of teenage pregnancies. A sidebar article identified Craig as the teenage father of an illegitimate child. The majority of the article focused on the unmarried teenage mother.

The teenage mother told Multimedia’s reporter that Craig was the father of her child. The reporter called Craig’s…