Illinois Cent. R. Co. v. Wales

Appellee sued the railroad company and its special agent, Bee, for slander, the alleged slander being in the form of an interrogatory addressed to persons whose names were averred to be unknown to appellee, during the course of an investigation being made by Bee concerning the theft from the railroad company of a large quantity of brass. The first question is whether the original declaration stated a cause of action.

Nothing is better established in the law relating to libel and slander than the rule that a defamation is none the less such merely because it is in the form of a question. The…