Elmer v. Fessenden
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort for slander. The declaration alleged that the defendant, who was a physician, falsely informed certain employees of the plaintiff, who was a manufacturer of whip-snaps from silk thread, that the silk thread which was furnished them by the plaintiff, and which they were compelled to manipulate in their work, contained arsenic, as a result of which information they ceased to work for the plaintiff; and that the plaintiff had suffered in the loss of their services certain…
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Tort for slander. The declaration alleged that the defendant, who was a physician, falsely informed certain employees of the plaintiff, who was a manufacturer of whip-snaps from silk thread, that the silk thread which was furnished them by the plaintiff, and which they were compelled to manipulate in their work, contained arsenic, as a result of which information they ceased to work for the plaintiff; and that the plaintiff had suffered in the loss of their services certain specified damage in his business. The answer contained a general denial, and also alleged that whatever words were…
1Opinion of the CourtHolmes, J.
1. It was a part of the plaintiff’s case' that the cause of his workmen’s leaving his employment was the defendant’s false story. If, as may be assumed, the excluded testimony would have shown that the woi’kmen when they left gave as their reason to the superintendent that the defendant had told them that the board of health reported arsenic in the silk, the evidence was admissible to show that their belief in the presence of poison was their reason in fact. Lund v. Tyngsborough, 9 Cush. 36, 41, 43. Aveson v. Kinnaird, 6 East, 188, 193. Hadley v. Carter, 8 N. H. 40, 43. United States v. Penn,…
2Cases cited11 opinions
- Insurance Co. v. MosleySupreme Court of the United States · 1869
- Terwilliger v. . WandsNew York Court of Appeals · 1858
- Clifford v. Atlantic Cotton MillsMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1888
- Fowles v. . BowenNew York Court of Appeals · 1864
- Roosa v. Boston Loan Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1882
6 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by43 opinions
- Mutual Life Insurance v. HillmonSupreme Court of the United States · 1892
- Commonwealth v. TrefethenMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1892
- United States v. Roland W. BrownCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit · 1974
- Stone v. Boston & Albany RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1898
- Commonwealth v. SaccoMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1926
38 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.