Legal Opinion

Elmer v. Fessenden

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Decided September 23, 1891PublishedCited by 11 opinions

Tort against a physician, for slander in falsely telling workmen of the plaintiff, who was a silk manufacturer, that there was arsenic in the silk furnished by him to them to work with, and thereby causing them to leave his employment.

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Tort against a physician, for slander in falsely telling workmen of the plaintiff, who was a silk manufacturer, that there was arsenic in the silk furnished by him to them to work with, and thereby causing them to leave his employment. After the former decision, in 151 Mass. 359, the case was heard in the Superior Court before Dewey, J., who, after a verdict for the plaintiff, allowed a bill of exceptions, which, so far as material to the points decided, appear in the opinion.

1Opinion of the CourtHolmes, J.

1. This is an action for words spoken by the defendant, and falsely alleging that the silk furnished by the plaintiff to his workmen contained arsenic. 151 Mass. 359. At *428the second trial, the plaintiff, in order to show that one Phillips had been deterred from working for him longer by the defendant’s statement, called Phillips’s mother as a witness, to show that her machine for working the silk was removed from the house after the words were spoken. The witness testified that the defendant spoke the words, but that she could not fix the time. To contradict her, evidence was admitted that at…

2Cases cited1 opinion

  1. Elmer v. FessendenMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1890

3Cited by11 opinions

  1. Cunnien v. Superior Iron Works Co.Wisconsin Supreme Court · 1921
  2. Shea v. RettieMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1934
  3. Chelsea Moving & Trucking Co. v. Ross Towboat Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1932
  4. Langan v. PianowskiMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1940
  5. Hayes v. Morris & Co.Supreme Court of Connecticut · 1923

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