Kansas Electric Supply Company, Inc., a Kansas Corporation v. Dun and Bradstreet, Inc., a Delaware Corporation

McWILLIAMS, Circuit Judge.

This is a libel case which bears considerable resemblance to Grove v. Dun & Bradstreet, Inc., 438 F.2d 433 (3d Cir. 1971), to which there will be subsequent reference. Kansas Electric Supply Company, Inc., a wholesale electric supply company hereinafter referred to as the plaintiff, brought an action for libel per se against Dun & Bradstreet, hereinafter referred to as D & B, for compensatory and punitive damages resulting from a false subscriber’s report circulated by D & B to the effect that plaintiff was in bankruptcy. Upon trial the jury returned a verdict in…