Holdaway Drugs, Inc. v. Braden

REED, Justice.

This is a defamation action. A discharged employee sued his former employer for allegedly slanderous statements uttered to an agent for a prospective employer on one occasion and on another occasion overheard by fellow employees and on still another occasion uttered to a parent of a fellow employee. The jury found in favor of the discharged employee and awarded him compensatory but not punitive damages. The former employer appealed to the Court of Appeals where the judgment of the trial court was affirmed. We granted discretionary review. For the reasons later stated, we reverse…