Dun and Bradstreet, Inc., Petitioner v. Truman O’neil, Respondent

Summary

The Texas Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s instructed verdict for Dun & Bradstreet, holding that the company’s conditional privilege to publish credit information to subscribers who had previously inquired was valid and that the plaintiff failed to show actual malice. The Court reversed the Court of Civil Appeals, which had found the privilege absent, and noted that negligence alone does not constitute actual malice.