What is “Malice” in defamation cases? My office is handling a libel case in which punitive damages arose. To prove malice (or oppression or fraud — related routes to punitive damages), one needs an idea of what constitutes malice and its partners. The defendant must be guilty of at least one of them and the plaintiff must prove them by an elevated standard of evidence.
The law defines these concepts as follows.
“Malice” means conduct which is intended by the defendant to cause injury to the plaintiff or despicable conduct which is carried on by the defendant with a willful and conscious disregard of the rights or safety of others.
“Oppression” means despicable conduct that subjects a person to cruel and unjust hardship in conscious disregard of that person’s rights.
“Fraud” means an intentional misrepresentation, deceit, or concealment of a material fact known to the defendant with the intention on the part of the defendant of thereby depriving a person of property or legal rights or otherwise causing injury.
Case law further defines nearly every word in these definitions.