The Maine supreme court on Tuesday overturned a Penobscot County Superior Court jury’s judgment that awarded a Bucksport man $100,000 in punitive damages in a 6-year-old slander lawsuit against Bangor Hydro-Electric Co.

The decision handed down by Maine’s highest court stated that Richard Staples, a former Bangor Hydro employee, failed to prove that his former supervisor’s conduct was deliberately outrageous or reckless.

Bangor Hydro had appealed a Penobscot County grand jury’s decision to award Staples $100,000 in punitive damages. Staples alleged that his former supervisor at Bangor Hydro slandered him by accusing him of tampering with company computer files.

Staples, who had been employed as a microcomputer specialist, was subsequently discharged from the company.

Staples’ supervisor had apparently discussed his concerns about Staples with other employees prior to Staples’ dismissal.

The jury awarded Staples $50,000 in compensatory damages and $100,000 in punitive damges.

In his decision, Justice David Roberts said that Staples had the burden of proving that his supervisor was motivated by ill will or that the supervisor’s conduct was so outrageous that malice could be implied.

“… There is no basis for the finding of deliberate, outrageous conduct — reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of his statement being insufficient support (for) an award of punitive damages,” wrote Roberts.

Justice Samuel W. Collins Jr. agreed that Staples failed to meet his burden of proving that the supervisor abused his privilege, and said the “jury’s finding to the contrary was clearly erroneous.”