Thursday August 20, 10:28 PM
BRIEF-Judge dismisses defamation case by ex-Cyberonics CEO against Suntrust
Aug 20 (Reuters) -
* Judge dismisses defamation case brought by former Cyberonics Inc CEO Robert 'Skip' Cummins (NYSE: CMI - news)
against Suntrust Capital markets - court filing
* U.S. federal judge says Cummins had accused Suntrust and two analysts of defamation over statements in analyst reports
* Judge says gist of analyst reports and related statements was that option grants were timed to exploit information favorable to Cyberonics (CYBX - news) that ordinary shareholders could not exploit
* Judge says analyst reports characterized the option grants as unethical and self-interested, effectively cmoparing them to illegal backdating
* Judge says plaintiff was not a public figure, making negligence rather than actual malice the standard to assess the alleged defamatory statements
* Judge says analysts' conclusions were protected statements of opinion based on disclosed facts
(New York Equities Desk; tel: +1 646 223 6000)
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