Jordan

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 3 JAMES K. JORDAN, CASE NO. 1:18-CV-00401-AWI-SAB

Plaintiff,

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S

v. RENEWED MOTION FOR JUDGMENT

AS A MATTER OF LAW AND

WONDERFUL CITRUS PACKING LLC, MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL a California limited liability company, (Doc. No. 189) Defendant. 9 I. Introduction In this lawsuit, a terminated employee, Plaintiff James Jordan (“Plaintiff”), alleged that his former employer, Defendant Wonderful Citrus Packing LLC (“Defendant”), defamed Plaintiff by publicly stating that Plaintiff committed a crime. After a sixteen-day jury trial, the jury returned a unanimous verdict in Plaintiff’s favor. The jury found that the statements made by Defendant were false and were understood to mean that Plaintiff committed a crime. The jury also found that Defendant’s statements did not fall within California’s common-interest privilege, meaning Defendant either made the statements with hatred or ill will…