Gross Coal Co. v. Rose
Wisconsin Supreme Court
Appeal from an order of the superior court of Milwaukee county: J. C. Ludwig-, Judge. The complaint contains two causes of action, one for slander and one for libel.
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Appeal from an order of the superior court of Milwaukee county: J. C. Ludwig-, Judge. The complaint contains two causes of action, one for slander and one for libel. After alleging the corporate character of the plaintiff and its business of buying and selling coal in the city of Milwaukee, the complaint states by way of inducement the existence of a coal famine in Milwaukee in the winter of 1902 and 1903, and the further fact that much hard■ship and suffering was occasioned to the people by reason thereof. The complaint further states, as a first cause of action, that on the evening of March…
1Opinion of the Court
"Winsnow, J.
A corporation may sue for a slander or libel upon it in the way of its business or trade. Newell, Libel & S. (2d ed.) 360. There can be no doubt that the published letter which forms the basis of the second cause of action was-libelous per se under the circumstances set forth in the complaint. It charged, in substance, that at a time when there-was a coal famine and people were suffering for fuel, the plaintiff, though engaged in the business of selling coal, not only charged extortionate prices for its coal, but actually re*27fused to sell coal, even at those prices, to people…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Brown v. VannamanWisconsin Supreme Court · 1893
3Cited by18 opinions
- Proto v. Bridgeport Herald CorporationSupreme Court of Connecticut · 1950
- Golden North Airways, Inc., a Corporation v. Tanana Publishing Company, Inc., a CorporationCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 1955
- Finnish Temperance Society Sovittaja v. Finnish Socialistic Publishing Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1921
- Axton Fisher Tobacco Co. v. Evening Post Co.Court of Appeals of Kentucky · 1916
- Shubert v. Variety, Inc.New York Supreme Court · 1926
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