Dale v. Harris
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort for slander in accusing the plaintiff of larceny. At the trial in the superior court, before Rockwell, J., it appeared that the defendant, who lived in Boston, kept a shop in Lowell for the sale of dry goods, in which he employed the plaintiff and two other persons as clerks; and that, having discovered, as he believed, a loss of $1800 in the shop, he told Bickford Lang, the city marshal of Lowell, of his supposed loss, and went with him to the shop, where all the…
Read the full summary
Tort for slander in accusing the plaintiff of larceny. At the trial in the superior court, before Rockwell, J., it appeared that the defendant, who lived in Boston, kept a shop in Lowell for the sale of dry goods, in which he employed the plaintiff and two other persons as clerks; and that, having discovered, as he believed, a loss of $1800 in the shop, he told Bickford Lang, the city marshal of Lowell, of his supposed loss, and went with him to the shop, where all the clerks the*, were. Lang having been called as a witness, the judge ruled that “ statements made to an officer alone, not in…
1Opinion of the CourtColt, J.
In an action for slander, malicious intent is an inference of law which arises from the speaking of the words alone, whenever the words spoken are in themselves actionable. This inference is rebutted when the occasion and circumstances of the speaking are such as to exclude the idea of malice, as when the communication was made in good faith, in the performance of a duty, and with the honest and. reasonable purpose of protecting the interest of the party using the words. When that is the case, the plaintiff must prove malice in fact, or he fails to establish a necessary element in his cause…
2Cited by18 opinions
- Halberstadt v. . New York Life Ins. Co.New York Court of Appeals · 1909
- Bander v. Metropolitan Life InsuranceMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1943
- Seelig v. Harvard Cooperative SocietyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1969
- Fahey v. ShaferWashington Supreme Court · 1917
- Shurtleff v. ParkerMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1881
13 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.