BOWMAN v. HELLER


420 Mass. 517 (1995)

SYLVIA SMITH BOWMAN vs. DAVID HELLER.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Suffolk.

June 13, 1995.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Alan M. Dershowitz (Michael R. Schneider with him) for the defendant.

Nancy S. Shilepsky (Maria R. Durant with her) for the plaintiff.

The following submitted briefs for amici curiae:

Robert S. Mantell & Kevin G. Powers for Massachusetts Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association.

Lynn Hecht Schafran & Deborah Ellis, of New York, Sydelle Pittas, Carolyn Burt, Amy Drachman & Gretchen Kendall, for Women's Bar Association.

Mary L. Bonauto for Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders.

Ozell Hudson, Jr., Barbara J. Dougan, Louis A. Rodriques & Priscilla E. Johnson, for Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law of the Boston Bar Association & others.

Ann M. Kappler & Jodie L. Kelley, of the District of Columbia, for Feminists for Free Expression.

Laura R. Handman, William S. Adams & Edward J. Davis, of New York, for National Writers Union & others.

George E. O'Brien for Hotel Employees/Restaurant Employees International Union Local 26.

Present: LIACOS, C.J., WILKINS, ABRAMS NOLAN, LYNCH, O'CONNOR, & GREANEY, JJ.


ABRAMS, J.

The defendant, appealing from a judgment that was based in part on his intentional or reckless infliction of emotional distress on the plaintiff, seeks refuge in the fact that at the time of his wrongdoing the plaintiff was a candidate for election to the office of president of their union local. From this, the defendant argues that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution protects him from liability in the absence of proof of actual malice...

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