Sheppard v. Bryant
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort by the members of a partnership engaged principally in the retail coal business with plants at Quincy and at Braintree for alleged slanderous words concerning the plaintiffs uttered by the defendant on February 3,1903, when the defendant was the mayor of the city of Quincy and was testifying under oath before a committee of the General Court, causing injury to the plaintiffs in their business.
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Tort by the members of a partnership engaged principally in the retail coal business with plants at Quincy and at Braintree for alleged slanderous words concerning the plaintiffs uttered by the defendant on February 3,1903, when the defendant was the mayor of the city of Quincy and was testifying under oath before a committee of the General Court, causing injury to the plaintiffs in their business. Writ dated February 6,1903. In the Superior Court the case was tried before Hitehcoch, J. It appeared that the committee in question were appointed under an order passed by the Senate and the House…
1Opinion of the CourtHammond, J.
This is an action of tort for slander. The words were spoken by the defendant in testifying as a witness before a legislative committee. The judge ruled that “ the alleged slanderous words having been uttered by the defendant as a witness, duly sworn, at a hearing before a committee of the Legislature, upon a matter within the authority of the committee, in response to a question asked of the witness by the chairman of the committee, and being pertinent to the matter then under investigation by the committee, are absolutely privileged, and the defendant is not liable in this action therefor;…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Laing v. MittenMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1904
- Wright v. LothropMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1889
3Cited by27 opinions
- Correllas v. ViveirosMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1991
- Mulgrew v. City of TauntonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1991
- Mezullo v. MaletzMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1954
- Fisher v. LintMassachusetts Appeals Court · 2007
- Ezekiel v. Jones Motor Co., Inc.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1978
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