New York: A federal jury cleared HBO of libel claims on Friday in a lawsuit brought against the Time Warner Inc subsidiary by a British sporting goods company over a report linking it to child labor in India.
Mitre Sports International, a unit of Britain's Pentland Group, sued HBO for defamation in October 2008, after a report called "Children of Industry" first aired on the U.S. national broadcaster's news program "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel."
The stakes were high at the trial, which began on April 13 in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Mitre sought tens of millions of dollars for damages it said it suffered after the report portrayed it as using or turning a blind eye to child labor in the manufacture of Mitre soccer balls in India.