Allen v. Michigan Bell Telephone Co.

Plaintiff, an insurance agent, contracted to place several advertisements in the Flint classified telephone directory. The defendant, Michigan Bell Telephone Company, accepted the order and agreed to publish the listings in its 1963 Yellow Pages — but failed to do so. Upon plaintiff’s suit for damages, the defendant Bell Telephone asserted the following clause of their contract as an affirmative defense:

“Telephone company (a) will not be bound by any verbal agreements or (b) will not be liable to advertiser for damages resulting from failure to include all or any of said items of advertising…