Opinion ID: 511771
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: background facts and procedural overview

Text: 6 Dr. Nanavati was born and reared in India and came to the United States in 1970 to continue his medical education. He became board certified in cardiology in 1977. After serving in a hospital in DuBois, Pennsylvania, he received medical privileges at Burdette Tomlin Memorial Hospital in Cape May Court House, New Jersey, moved to Cape May in 1979, and continued his practice there. At the time he arrived at the Hospital, its chief (and sole) cardiologist was Dr. Sorensen. Dr. Sorensen was board certified in internal medicine though not in cardiology. 7 As the Hospital's chief cardiologist, Sorensen had exclusive control over allocating electrocardiograms (EKGs), which were a substantial source of revenue. Soon after arriving at the Hospital, Nanavati demanded to share in these EKG readings, but was unsuccessful. Nanavati thereupon sought assistance from the Executive Committee of the medical staff. Then, only three weeks after his arrival, Nanavati launched a verbal attack upon Sorensen at a staff meeting, demanding to know why an inferior[ly] qualified physician should control the EKG readings. J.A. at 5159. 8 Nanavati was allocated EKG readings several days per week, but he remained unsatisfied. He proceeded to make internal complaints about Sorensen's handling of patient care and to demand more EKG readings. Eventually Nanavati made public his complaints about the quality of patient care at the Hospital. In his most serious accusation, he stated that Sorensen's incorrect reading of EKGs had led to the death of at least one patient. Nanavati also engaged in numerous quarrels with nursing personnel and members of the medical staff, arousing the ire of members of the staff by allegedly stealing patients, overbilling and prescribing unnecessary treatments. 9 Nanavati's comments touched off insulting comments by Sorensen. To the hospital staff, he referred to Nanavati, who is dark-skinned, as a nigger, J.A. at 4029, and as the Indian. J.A. at 4013. To the press, he accused Nanavati of being arrogant, backbiting and nasty. J.A. at 3114. In addition, Sorensen resisted orders from the Executive Committee that he provide Nanavati with more days to read EKGs. The struggle between Nanavati and Sorensen not only became a cause celebre in the local newspapers but also received publicity in the Philadelphia Inquirer. 10 As we have intimated, a colossal legal struggle, both in the Hospital and outside, followed these verbal battles. In June of 1982, Nanavati filed a charge against the Hospital with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleging discrimination because of national origin. In August of that year, charges were filed with the Executive Committee seeking Nanavati's dismissal from the staff. The Executive Committee, comprised of several members of the medical staff, was empowered under the Hospital's medical staff constitution and by-laws to make staff privileges recommendations to the Hospital Board of Governors. In September 1982, Nanavati filed a second charge with the EEOC against the Hospital, this time alleging unlawful retaliation. 11 On November 12, 1982, after evidentiary hearings at which Nanavati was unrepresented by counsel, the Hospital Board of Governors terminated Nanavati's staff privileges for violation of hospital bylaws. 1 On November 17, 1982, Nanavati filed a complaint in New Jersey Superior Court, Chancery Division, which promptly issued a temporary restraining order reinstating Nanavati to the staff, on the ground that the Hospital had failed to follow its own bylaw procedures in terminating him. On April 15, 1983, the Board of Governors' Hearing Committee, appointed for the occasion in the wake of the court decision, recommended that the November 12 termination of Nanavati's staff privileges be affirmed. As part of its report on Nanavati, the Hospital compiled a Black Book, which included numerous reports, letters and testimony on issues arising from the dispute between Nanavati and the Hospital staff. The Hospital released the Black Book to the press. In July 1983, the New Jersey court denied the Hospital's application to dissolve the restraining order, found that the Hospital had held ex parte hearings that violated fundamental fairness, and entered an order remanding the case to the Hospital Board of Governors for further proceedings in which Nanavati could have the assistance of counsel. 12 The Hearing Committee conducted new hearings on July 15 and August 5, 1983. On October 21, 1983, the Hearing Committee again recommended termination of staff privileges and the full Hospital board approved that recommendation. The litigation then resumed in state court with another motion by the Hospital to vacate the injunction against dismissal. Nanavati charged that the Hospital's new decision also was procedurally invalid because the Board was biased. After discovery and a hearing, the Superior Court again held for Nanavati. J.A. at 2485. The court concluded that the Board had been biased and that the hearing was a nullity from beginning to end. Id. at 2502. It therefore refused to accord the Board's decision any deference, and proceeded to determine the merits of the Nanavati exclusion de novo. 13 The court found that Nanavati had indeed been disruptive at the Hospital. But it held that state law permitted termination of hospital privileges only if the disruption had an actual, negative impact on patient care. Under that standard, the court found dismissal from the staff inappropriate. It therefore entered an order permanently enjoining Nanavati's dismissal on the misconduct charges at issue. The order eventually was appealed to the New Jersey Supreme Court, which, although finding a great need for deference to the decisions of hospital administrators, affirmed. 2 14 In addition to these state court and Hospital Board proceedings, Nanavati initiated federal court proceedings, filing a complaint on March 8, 1983 in the district court for the District of New Jersey. In this complaint, No. 83-0794, Nanavati pleaded several claims. First, he pleaded discrimination claims against the Hospital under the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1981, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. Secs. 2000e to 2000e-17. The parties dispute whether the complaint also asserted these claims against Sorensen. In a separate count, Nanavati asserted state tort claims of defamation and tortious interference with business relations against Sorensen. 15 On May 10, 1984 Sorensen filed a federal court complaint against Nanavati, and the district court consolidated the two actions. This complaint, No. 84-1790, also included several claims for alleged antitrust violations, for slander, and for malicious interference with business relations. Nanavati thereupon counterclaimed, pleading similar claims against Sorensen. At trial, Nanavati amended his antitrust complaint to include the Hospital and the Executive Committee of the medical staff as defendants on the antitrust claim. 16 During pretrial proceedings, the district court granted partial summary judgment for Nanavati, dismissing Sorensen's antitrust claims and some of Sorensen's defamation claims. At the final pretrial conference, Nanavati withdrew his own defamation claims. During trial, the court dismissed Nanavati's Title VII claims on the ground that Nanavati, as a physician, was an independent contractor, not an employee covered by the Act. The surviving claims went to the jury in the form of a special verdict with questions labelled special interrogatories by the district court. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 49(a). The jury returned the following verdicts: 17 (1) in favor of the Hospital and the Executive Committee on Nanavati's Sec. 1981 discrimination claim; 18 (2) in favor of Nanavati on his antitrust claims against the Hospital and the Executive Committee, but against him on his antitrust claim against Sorensen; 19 (3) in favor of the Hospital on the Hospital's defamation claim against Nanavati; damages were fixed in the amounts of $100,000 compensatory and $50,000 punitive damages; 20 (4) in favor of Sorensen on Sorensen's defamation claims against Nanavati; damages were fixed in the amounts of $100,000 compensatory and $500,000 punitive damages; 21 (5) in favor of Sorensen on Sorensen's tortious business interference claim against Nanavati; damages were fixed in the amounts of $100,000 compensatory and $300,000 punitive damages; and 22 (6) in favor of Sorensen on Nanavati's tortious interference with business claim. The total damage verdicts were thus $1,050,000 in Nanavati's favor and $1,150,000 against him. Of the damages against him, $1,000,000 were in favor of Sorensen and $150,000 were in favor of the Hospital. On motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, the district court set aside Nanavati's antitrust award. However, it upheld the defamation and business interference verdicts for the Hospital, the Committee, and Sorensen. These cross-appeals followed. 23 Nanavati appeals: 1) the denial of Nanavati's motion for judgment n.o.v. on Sorensen's defamation and tortious interference with business relations verdict; 2) the denial of Nanavati's motion for new trial on his Sec. 1981 claim against the Hospital; 3) the denial of Nanavati's motion for new trial on his tortious interference claim against Sorensen; and, 4) the grant of the judgment n.o.v. in favor of the Hospital and the Executive Committee on Nanavati's antitrust claims. The Hospital, Executive Committee and Sorensen filed a cross-appeal, No. 86-5819. Because they are completely satisfied with the final judgment and object only to interlocutory rulings of the district court, we lack jurisdiction over their appeal. Dalle-Tezze v. Director, OWCP, 814 F.2d 129 (3d Cir.1987). However, we have treated the issues raised in the cross-appeal as alternative grounds for affirmance of the district court's judgment.III. THE SLANDER CLAIMS
24 Sorensen and the Hospital received jury verdicts for slander based on Nanavati's remarks to the press and to an EKG technician, Anne O'Neil. Sorensen relied upon five such statements at trial. Four of the statements stemmed from press interviews referring to a 1981 incident in which a patient, Elsie Steinmeyer, died from an ailment that had been diagnosed incorrectly. The fifth statement stemmed from Nanavati's 1985 conversation with O'Neil. 25 Several doctors read Mrs. Steinmeyer's EKG, including both Sorensen and Nanavati. The original EKG apparently were difficult to read and had suggested to all the doctors, except Nanavati, that Mrs. Steinmeyer suffered from a myocardial infarction. This was the more common and therefore the more conservative interpretation. Nanavati alone read the EKG as suggesting that the patient suffered from a pulmonary embolism, although he was not certain. Nanavati was the consulting physician, and was on call at the time she died. Despite his diagnosis, however, he had not prescribed treatment for a pulmonary embolism, and was criticized in a subsequent medical investigation of the whole affair, published in the Hospital's Black Book, for failing to press his diagnosis. 26 A third doctor, Mrs. Steinmeyer's treating physician, was primarily responsible for her care, and made the choice to follow the conservative interpretation. Sorensen's only involvement with the patient was his reading of one of her early EKG. An autopsy after Mrs. Steinmeyer's death revealed that the cause of her death had indeed been a pulmonary embolism. In a later independent review of the EKG, Dr. Meister, a cardiological expert, concluded that Sorensen in no way had been negligent in reading the EKG. The Meister report appeared in the Hospital's Black Book. 27 The following specific statements, made by Nanavati to a reporter inquiring about Dr. Meister's support of Sorensen's reading of the EKG, are at issue in Hospital's and Sorensen's slander claims against Dr. Nanavati: 28
29 2. The correct interpretation [of the EKGs] would have saved her life because a pulmonary embolism is fully treatable if it is diagnosed and quickly handled. 30 3. How can Dr. Meister be right when the patient is dead? 31 Moreover, referring generally to the entire incident, Nanavati stated: 32 4. I was concerned about everyone's life after that, I saw that man [the patient's husband] and I had to cover up for this doctor [Sorensen]. 33 5. I never knew medicine could be so shallow. 34 O'Neil testified at trial that Nanavati, in 1985, in a private conversation between the two, had referred to Sorensen as a 35 [6.] senile old doctor that had been there [at the Hospital] for twenty years killing patients. 36 The Hospital also sued Nanavati for slander, citing two statements made by Nanavati to the reporters in its slander claim. The defamation claim made by the Hospital against Nanavati relied in part on statement # 1 (the conservative interpretation statement) and statement # 5 (the shallow medicine statement). 37 As a result of Nanavati's allegedly slanderous remarks, an article appeared in the Atlantic City Sun on May 11, 1983. However, Sorensen and the Hospital sued for slander only, basing their claims on what was said to the reporters and not for libel based on the published report.
38 The procedural history of the defamation claims is complex. Technically, the case is comprised of two separate consolidated actions. 3 See supra page 99. Although consolidation was perfectly appropriate here, we note that few of the formal requirements of maintaining two separate actions were observed by the parties. As a general rule, consolidation is a procedural device, not a means for joining new parties or claims to old actions. It does not serve the purpose of circumventing the established procedures for amending complaints or joining new parties. See Cole v. Schenley Industries, 563 F.2d 35 (2d Cir.1977). However, it is apparent that all parties and the district court did indeed treat the consolidated cases as one large case. 4 39 In the interests of fairness and efficiency, given the uncontested treatment in the district court, we likewise consider this case as a unified action. See Fed.R.Civ.Pro. 1 (rules of procedure shall be construed to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action). We therefore will construe Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(b), which allows for amendment of pleadings to conform to the evidence, quite broadly and conform the pleadings of Civil Action No. 83-0794 (Nanavati's initial suit against Sorensen, the Executive Committee and the Hospital) to reflect the nature of the action and proofs. Given our determination infra that the district court possessed the power to have tried this case as a single action, and that at least for jurisdictional purposes the parties treated it as such, liberal treatment seems appropriate. See In Re Meyertech Corp., 831 F.2d 410, 422-23 (3d Cir.1987) (treating issue tried by consent, squarely presented and foisting no surprise on any party, as included in constructively amended complaint even though no technical amendment was ever made); 6 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure, Sec. 1494 (1971); cf. Schultz v. Cally, 528 F.2d 470, 474-75 (3d Cir.1975) (refusing to apply Rule 15(b) to constructively amend pleadings where doubt existed as to whether defendants would have agreed to the existence of federal question jurisdiction and where case was tried in district court under a mistaken theory of diversity). 40 Nanavati contends that the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over Sorensen's slander claim. He argues that because the state claims were not properly connected to any federal claim in the action and because all the parties are residents of New Jersey, federal jurisdiction is lacking. 5 Given our willingness to consider the actions below as constructively amended, we find no jurisdictional defect. 6 We hold that Sorensen's defamation claims were properly pendent and ancillary to federal claims in the action. 7 41 In Ambromovage v. United Mine Workers of America, 726 F.2d 972, 989-91 (3d Cir.1984), this court set out a tripartite test by which such supplemental (ancillary and pendent) jurisdiction should be judged. First, pursuant to United Mine Workers v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715, 86 S.Ct. 1130, 16 L.Ed.2d 218 (1966), the court must possess constitutional power to hear the claim. Second, the extension of jurisdiction cannot contravene or undermine federal statutory law. Third, the court must examine whether, in the exercise of its appropriate discretion, the claim is of the type to which supplemental jurisdiction should be extended. Ambromovage, 726 F.2d at 989-91. 8 42 Our inquiry here revolves solely around the first prong of the test. The question of power is constitutional, governed by the limitations of Article III. To satisfy the constitutional prong of the test, we must determine whether a substantial federal claim is present and whether the state and federal claims derive from a common nucleus of operative fact such that a plaintiff would ordinarily be expected to try them all in one judicial proceeding. Gibbs, 383 U.S. at 725, 86 S.Ct. at 1138. 43 In trying to set out standards for supplemental jurisdiction and to apply them consistently, we observe that, like unhappy families, no two cases of supplemental jurisdiction are exactly alike. The principle that we glean from the cases is that mere tangential overlap of facts is insufficient, but total congruity between the operative facts of the two cases is unnecessary. 9 See Skevofilax v. Quigley, 810 F.2d 378, 385 (3d Cir.) (in banc) (district court has ancillary jurisdiction over a cross-claim for garnishment by a judgment creditor against a nonparty to the original lawsuit, where the non-party may owe the judgment debtor an obligation to indemnify against the judgment), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 107 S.Ct. 1956, 95 L.Ed.2d 528 (1987); Ambromovage, 726 F.2d at 992 (holding that the district court had power to hear defendant's counterclaim raising a state law set-off in conjunction with plaintiff's federal question claim because a key factual question which implicate[d] the entire factual matrix of the case was common to both the federal claim and the ancillary counterclaim); Cf. PAAC v. Rizzo, 502 F.2d 306 (3d Cir.1974), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 1108, 95 S.Ct. 780, 42 L.Ed.2d 804 (1975) (holding that a defamation claim by a city agency director against the mayor was insufficiently related to the federal question of the mayor's ability under the federal antipoverty law to terminate the agency director, but providing no indication of the facts in that case or its factual relationship to the termination claim, other than to conclude that it was distinct). 44 We conclude that Sorensen's slander claim (which arose out of five statements made by Nanavati) emerges from the same nucleus of operative fact as the federal claims. As in Ambromovage, a critical background fact (the enmity between the two physicians) is common to all claims. For instance, Sorensen's slander claim is ancillary to Nanavati's antitrust claim. In his antitrust claim, Nanavati challenged the revocation of his staff privileges and alleged that the defendants had engaged in a group boycott. Nanavati's discussions with the press as well as the substance of his allegations against Sorensen would constitute relevant facts for both sides. Nanavati could use the Steinmeyer incident as evidence of defendants' unconcern for patients (thereby exposing defendants' asserted motive for excluding Nanavati as pretextual). In defense of the antitrust claim, Sorensen, the Hospital, and the Executive Committee would be expected to present evidence demonstrating the propriety of their motivation for excluding Nanavati--that Nanavati was impossible to work with and that he disrupted the amicable and supportive environment conducive to high quality patient care. Sorensen, the Hospital, and the Executive Committee could use Nanavati's statements to the press to argue that Nanavati was subversive and difficult. 45 We therefore believe that the district court was eminently reasonable in perceiving that all the facts of the slander incidents would be before it in any case and that Sorensen's claim was properly related to the federal questions. 10
46 Having found that jurisdiction exists, we must reach the merits of Sorensen's slander claim. We conclude that Nanavati's comments to the reporters fall within the realm of constitutionally protected opinion. 11 The Supreme Court of New Jersey has held that statements of opinion are entitled to constitutional protection no matter how extreme, vituperous, or vigorously expressed they may be. Kotlikoff v. The Community News, 89 N.J. 62, 444 A.2d 1086, 1091 (1982). The Kotlikoff court cited the famous dicta of the Supreme Court: 47 Under the First Amendment there is no such thing as a false idea. However pernicious an opinion may seem, we depend for its correction not on the conscience of judges and juries but on the competition of other ideas. 48 Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 339-40, 94 S.Ct. 2997, 3006-07, 41 L.Ed.2d 789 (1974). See also Dairy Stores, Inc. v. Sentinel Pub. Co., 104 N.J. 125, 516 A.2d 220, 231 (1986) (citing Kotlikoff and Gertz ). 49 The decision to shield opinion from liability for defamation represents an attempt to balance the constitutional protection of speech with the rights of individuals not to be defamed. New Jersey favors the interests of free speech even though statements of opinions may cause injury, because, unlike false statements of fact, opinions are more likely to contribute to a robust debate. See Kotlikoff, 444 A.2d at 1091. 50 Recognizing this doctrine is, of course, only the beginning; the harder task is actually differentiating potentially unprotected false statements of fact from protected opinion. The district court recognized that opinion is protected but rejected Nanavati's arguments that his statements constituted opinion. Instead, relying heavily on the Restatement (Second) of Torts Sec. 566, comment b (1977), the district court held that Nanavati's statements were unprotected mixed opinions because they implied the existence of undisclosed facts. For the reasons that follow, we will reverse that determination. 51 Recently, this court confronted the question of how New Jersey differentiates between fact and opinion. We determined that New Jersey would follow the approach of the Restatement (Second) of Torts in determining the distinction. See Dunn v. Gannett New York Newspaper, Inc., 833 F.2d 446 (3d Cir.1987). 52 According to the Restatement approach that we applied in Dunn, and which the New Jersey Supreme Court has approved in Kotlikoff, 444 A.2d at 1089, and Dairy Stores, Inc. v. Sentinel Publishing Co., 104 N.J. 125, 516 A.2d 220, 231 (1986), pure opinions are either statements which provide the underlying factual assumptions of the speakers or statements made where those assumptions are known to the listener. Such pure opinion is fully protected. Mixed opinions, however, imply the existence of defamatory unknown facts that justify the opinion expressed. R. Smolla, Law of Defamation, Sec. 6.04, at 6-17 (footnote omitted); See Restatement (Second) of Torts Sec. 566, comment c (1977). Where facts upon which the opinion is based are not disclosed and the listeners have no basis for knowledge, such mixed opinion does not merit absolute protection. 53 In applying the Restatement approach, therefore, the court must examine a statement in context. 12 The examination of context itself looks at many factors. Relevant here are considerations of the nature of the discussion in which the allegedly defamatory statements were made. In Kotlikoff, the court analyzed a letter to the editor of a newspaper and concluded that allegations of a huge coverup and a conspiracy were not, in context, allegations of criminal activity, but merely pejorative rhetoric. 444 A.2d at 1091. Statements surrounded by other statements of opinion (such as a debate on a controversial topic) are also likely to be understood as opinions. 54 The key factor in analyzing the statements at issue are the nature of the listeners' understanding. The circumstances of Nanavati's conversation with the reporters strongly favor treating Nanavati's statements as protected pure opinion. It is essential to emphasize that this is an action for slander for speech to reporters, and not libel for the published article. 55 The reporters to whom the alleged slander was spoken knew of the facts regarding this long standing and well-publicized feud. When Nanavati spoke to the reporters, the controversy between Nanavati and Sorensen had been raging in public for several years and the Hospital recently had released a comprehensive report of its investigation of Nanavati (the Black Book). That report included a discussion of the allegedly misread EKG, and a copy of Dr. Meister's report. The report also included a lengthy discussion of Nanavati's troubles with the Hospital and Nanavati's complaints about Hospital practices. That the reporters to whom Nanavati made his statements were aware of the existence of the Black Book and its contents is evidenced by their discussion of it in the articles. Thus, Nanavati addressed knowledgeable listeners who were aware that Dr. Meister had absolved Sorensen of any negligence. The reporters were obviously aware that the speaker was presenting his opinion of Mrs. Steinmeyer's death and that other doctors and the Hospital held firmly opposing views. Nanavati's interpretation of events contributes to a robust debate on matters of public importance, namely the competence of medical care at a hospital. 56 We will briefly discuss each allegedly defamatory statement in turn. Statement # 1, that conservative interpretation [of the EKG] probably cost the patient her life, and Statement # 2, that the correct interpretation would have saved the patient's life because a pulmonary embolism is fully treatable, on the facts of this case are both protected opinions under New Jersey law. Both statements assert exactly the same proposition: that had Sorensen diagnosed a pulmonary embolism, the patient would have lived. It is undisputed that Sorensen did not diagnose a pulmonary embolism, and Nanavati's statement provides the factual basis for the conclusion that a correct diagnosis would have saved the patient's life; namely that a pulmonary embolism is fully treatable. Beyond this, the only possible assertion in the statement is that a correct diagnosis by Sorensen, as opposed to a correct diagnosis by Nanavati, would have been acted upon. This is simply not defamatory. Furthermore, because the reporters were familiar with the long running dispute among the parties and knowledgeable about the underlying facts, the Restatement approach would protect these two statements as opinion. 57 Nanavati's question, statement # 3, [h]ow can Dr. Meister be right when the patient is dead? refers only to whether Meister was right to conclude that Sorensen was not at fault, and its rhetorical quality smacks of opinion. It also states explicitly the undisputed fact, the death of the patient, on which Nanavati based the view that Meister was wrong. However silly the statement may be as a refutation of Meister's judgment, the statement is clearly opinion. 58 Nanavati's statement # 4, that the Steinmeyer affair made him concerned about the lives of other patients and forced him to cover-up in discussions with the patient's husband seems at first blush, the most problematic of all the statements. Yet, all the statement conveys (albeit histrionically) is Nanavati's opinion that Sorensen was negligent. As noted above, the facts surrounding the incident were well known to the listeners, as evidenced by the articles. 59 Finally, we consider Nanavati's statement, I never knew medicine could be so shallow, assigned as a basis of liability only by the Hospital. To the extent Nanavati's meaning can be discerned from the context of the conversation, it appears that Nanavati was conveying his disgust for the pettiness of his adversaries, and his factual basis for believing his colleagues lacked depth had been disclosed to the listeners. 60 In sum, we find that New Jersey would not allow recovery for slander for the aforementioned statements, given the circumstances under which these statements were uttered.
61 While testifying at trial, an EKG technician, Ann O'Neil, provided surprise testimony that Nanavati called Sorensen a senile old doctor that had been there [the Hospital] for 20 years killing patients. Trial Transcript 6/30/86 p. 160. The statement was uttered in the course of a November 1985 conversation in which Nanavati complained to O'Neil that Sorensen had a locked drawer in which to keep his prescription pads but that he, Nanavati, did not. O'Neil testified that she was the only one to hear the comment alleging Sorensen's incompetence and senility and did not believe it. Additionally, she testified that when she challenged Nanavati, he asserted: That's not opinion, that's facts. Id. at 159. Finally, O'Neil testified that she wrote the statement down and two days later gave it to her superior at the Hospital. 62 Upon hearing O'Neil's testimony, Sorensen successfully moved for leave to amend, over objection, to add this statement as a ground for his defamation claim. Nanavati claims that the mid-trial amendment was an abuse of discretion. He also submits that the statement to O'Neil caused no injury. In our view, the injury alleged here borders on the metaphysical. The facts indicate that no one who heard the slander believed it, and those who repeated the slander did so only to express outrage at the speaker. The entire situation seems more like a fiendish law school hypothetical gone amok than a compensable claim for slander. We believe that New Jersey would not compensate for slander under these facts. See Sisler v. Gannett New York Newspaper, Inc., 104 N.J. 256, 516 A.2d 1083 (1986). Therefore we need not reach the question whether the court abused its discretion by permitting Sorensen to add this claim for slander so late in the proceedings. 63 In sum, we hold that statements # 1-5 constitute protected opinion and that New Jersey would not permit recovery upon them under the circumstances of this case. The defamation awards will therefore be set aside. 64