Cole v. State

Claimants seek to recover the sum of $200 paid by each of them to the State, in applying for licenses as private detectives or investigators, pursuant to article 7 (§§ 70-90) of the General Business Law (Cons. Laws, ch. 20.) They claim that article 7 does not apply to them and that the applications and payments were made under duress. The claims are being discussed together, because the facts are substantially similar and the issues involved are identical.

Since 1930 claimant Cole, and since 1919 claimant Currie, have been and still are engaged in the city of Rochester, New York, in the…