Nealon v. Frisbie
The Superior Court of the City of New York and Buffalo
Appeal from special term. Action by Bridget Wealon against Mortimer A. Frisbie. From-an interlocutory judgment overruling a demurrer to. the complaint, defendant appeals.
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Appeal from special term. Action by Bridget Wealon against Mortimer A. Frisbie. From-an interlocutory judgment overruling a demurrer to. the complaint, defendant appeals. The action is for slander, and the complaint in these words: “That on or about the 30th day of November, 1893, at the premises No. 228 West Fifty-Ninth street, in the city of New York, the defendant, in the presence and hearing of a number of persons, maliciously spoke concerning the plaintiff the false and defamatory words following, to wit, that he called the plaintiff a ‘God damned Irish bitch,’ whereby the plaintiff was…
1Opinion of the CourtMcADAM, J.
The words charged, though opprobrious, do not necessarily impute want of chastity, and are not necessarily actionable *857per se. Phillips v. Baldwin, 8 Wkly. Dig. 194; Schurick v. Kollman, 50 Ind. 330; K. v. H., 20 Wis. 239. And see Anon., 60 N. Y. 262; McMahon v. Hallock (Sup.) 1 N. Y. Supp. 312. Where words are not actionable per se, and do not on their face convey a slanderous imputation, there must be a preparatory statement of some extrinsic matter, a colloquium connecting it with the words spoken, and an innuendo showing the injurious sense in which they were uttered. 5 Wait, Act. & Def.…
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