Page:Brown v. Tucker.pdf/6

440   breach or termination of the relationship or expectancy; and (4) resultant damage to the party whose relationship or expectancy has been disrupted. Cross v. Arkansas Livestock & Poultry Comm'n, 328 Ark. 255, 943 S.W.2d 230 (1997); United Bilt Homes, Inc. v. Sampson, 310 Ark. 47, 832 S.W.2d 502 (1992). The only facts alleged in the complaint pertaining to this claim are that Appellee forced Colonel Goodwin to demote Appellant with the hopeful end result of forcing him to resign. There are no facts demonstrating that Appellant had a valid contractual relationship or business expectancy in his job, or that he was damaged by Appellee's alleged actions. To the contrary, Appellee contends that Appellant was merely reassigned to another position with the state police; he was not demoted from his rank of corporal, nor was his pay reduced as a result of his new job assignment.

[9, 10] In the second instance, Appellant claims that Appellee slandered him. The following elements must be proven to support a claim of defamation, whether it be by the spoken word (slander) or the written word (libel): (1) the defamatory nature of the statement of fact; (2) that statement's identification of or reference to the plaintiff; (3) publication of the statement by the defendant; (4) the defendant's fault in the publication; (5) the statement's falsity; and (6) damages. Minor v. Failla, 329 Ark. 274, 946 S.W.2d 954 (1997) (citing Mitchell v. Globe Int'l Pub., Inc., 773 F. Supp. 1235 (W.D. Ark. 1991)). The only information offered in the complaint on this cause of action is that Appellee slandered Appellant by referring to him as "incompetent and unable to function in his position." The defamatory nature of those particular words is not evident, especially if Appellant was, in fact, not competent to function in his position. Nor is it evident that the statement implies an assertion of an objective verifiable fact. In order to determine whether a statement may be viewed as implying an assertion of fact, the following factors must be weighed: (1) whether the author used figurative or hyperbolic language that would negate the impression that he or she was seriously maintaining implied fact; (2) whether the general tenor of the publication negates this impression; and (3) whether the published assertion is susceptible of being proved true or false. Dodson v. Dicker, 306 Ark. 108, 812 S.W.2d 97 (1991) (citing Unelko