Dismissal of Libel Award Voided
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WASHINGTON — A U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled today that a federal judge erred in 1983 when he reversed a jury’s award of $2 million in damages in the libel suit of the president of Mobil Oil Corp. against the Washington Post.
The three-member panel concluded that the plaintiff, William Tavoulareas, established “actual malice” on the part of the newspaper and its reporter, Patrick Tyler, in a 1979 article about the oil company executive’s business dealings. The court reversed the decision by U.S. District Judge Oliver Gasch and remanded the case for further proceedings.
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