Anderson v. New York Telephone Co.

As much as I sympathize with the plaintiff and his plight in this case, I must dissent from the court’s holding in his favor. The larger issue of the public policy involved, founded upon the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, transcends the wrong done to plaintiff herein, if it was such, and requires affirmance of the judgment. The appeal presents the question of the liability of a telephone company for the transmission by one of its subscribers of allegedly defamatory recorded messages concerning the plaintiff.

Since the trial court dismissed the two complaints on defendant’s…