Results

Court Rules CBS Opioid Broadcast Did Not Defame

The United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants, CBS Broadcasting, CBS News, reporter Jim Axelrod, anchor Scott Pelley, and producer Ashley Velie, in a lawsuit alleging defamation and false light invasion of privacy arising out of CBS News’ Peabody Award-winning series on the opioid crisis in West Virginia, ruling that the plaintiff had failed to establish that the defendants’ alleged defamatory statements were false. In a 41-page published opinion filed on August 21, 2018, the federal court further ruled for the defendants on the plaintiff’s claims of tortious interference and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims, concluding that the challenged broadcasts “were not only tolerable – they were applaudable.”

Flaherty Attorneys Thomas V. Flaherty and Wesley P. Page teamed with Ballard Spahr attorneys Michael D. Sullivan, Jay Ward Brown, and Maxwell S. Mishkin to obtain the result.

Disclaimer: Case summaries, reports of past results and individual lawyer biographies on this website describe past matters handled for clients of the firm. These descriptions are meant only to provide information to the public about the activities and experience of our lawyers. They are not intended as a guarantee that the same or similar results can be obtained in every matter undertaken by our lawyers. You must not assume that a similar result can be obtained in a legal matter of interest to you. The outcome of a particular matter can depend on a variety of factors—including the specific factual and legal circumstances, the ability of opposing counsel, and, often, unexpected developments beyond the control of any client or lawyer.

Jump to Page

By using this site, you acknowledge having read our Disclaimer and agree to our Privacy Policy