Court Opinion

ID: 9543530
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:46:17.979824+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:10:31.844870
License: Public Domain

ROBERTS, Justice,
with whom CLIFFORD, Justice joins, concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I agree with the Court’s decision affirming the award of damages for defamation. I respectfully disagree with the Court’s application of 26 M.R.S.A. § 626. We stated in Knoppers v. Rumford Community Hospital, 531 A.2d 1276, 1280 (Me.1987), that the Legislature intended that section 626 apply to “working people who are dependent upon full and regular wage payments to meet their weekly needs.” That limitation would exclude salaried corporate executives. See Black’s Law Dictionary 1200 (5th ed. 1979). Whether dicta or not, our statement in Knoppers should control the application of section 626 until the effective date of the 1991 amendment.