Food Lion, Inc. v. Capital Cities/ABC, Inc.

ABC reporters Dale and Barnett (defendants) fabricated resumes and references to get hired at Food Lion (plaintiff) grocery stores, where they secretly filmed 45 hours of footage showing employees repackaging expired fish and mixing expired ground beef with fresh beef, which ABC then aired. Food Lion sued, alleging the reporters breached their duty of loyalty as Food Lion employees while secretly working to expose the company; a jury found Dale and Barnett liable, and after the trial court denied post-trial motions for judgment as a matter of law, ABC and the reporters appealed.