Phelan v. Rheinstein

Motion to dismiss the amended complaint upon the ground that it appears upon the face thereof that it does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action.

The amended complaint sets forth four causes of action, all for alleged slanders, three against the defendant Alfred Rheinstein, and the fourth against his wife, the defendant Katherine Rheinstein.

The words spoken of in the first cause of action are not, in my opinion, actionable per se. To say of a married woman living continuously apart from her husband for more than one year, “ she got a maternity corset,” is not of itself an…