Tanner v. Ebbole

88 So.3d 856 (2011)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P is the proprietor of LA Body Art, a tattoo and body-piercing business. Averette, Jr. (D), is the proprietor of Demented Needle, LLC, a competing tattoo and body-piercing business. P sued Ds asserting slander, libel, and invasion-of-privacy claims. The invasion-of-privacy claim was based upon the allegation that Ds had appropriated a plaster cast of P's torso, had adorned it with satanic symbols, and had used it as a mannequin for displaying Demented Needle T-shirts for sale. A local artist had made the body cast and had given it to Ds. Ds adorned the body cast with black roses and drawings of pentagrams, attached black wings and 'devil's horns' to it, and displayed Demented Needle T-shirts on it. The mannequin did not have a face, or any other features identifying it as a representation of P. But Ds routinely told customers and other individuals who entered the Demented Needle shop that the mannequin was a body cast of P. One customer was told that if he 'really wanted to talk to P he could go stand up front and talk to P there … that P was sitting at the front of the shop.' Ds said, 'that's a cast of her body that we use to set spells on her.' The jury returned a verdict awarding P zero compensatory damages from any of the defendants but awarding punitive damages as follows: $200,000 against Demented Needle, LLC; $100,000 against Averette; and $10,000 against Tanner. Ds appealed.