Judge throws out Taser's libel suit against Gannett Corporation

CASES DISPOSED OF ON DISMISSAL MOTIONS

In January 2006, a judge threw the case out, saying that the error in the article was not malicious, and that the story was protected by the First Amendment.

USA TODAY: TASER, Inc. v. USA TODAY -- The trial court granted our motion for summary judgment in this libel and invasion-of-privacy action brought by TASER, a manufacturer of stun guns. The plaintiff's main complaint was with a USA TODAY sidebar which, due to a mathematical error, attributed too much electrical current to TASER devices. The court granted summary judgment on the libel claim finding that the publication of the single inadvertent mathematical error did not constitute the type of reckless falsity that a public-figure plaintiff like TASER must establish. The trial court dismissed the false light invasion-of-privacy claim on the ground that corporations have no right to privacy.