Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1938

Halliday v. Cienkowski

Halliday v. Cienkowski
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · Decided December 6, 1938 · Kepi-Iart, Schaefer, Maxey, Drew, Linn, Stern, Barnes
3 A.2d 372; 333 Pa. 123; 1939 Pa. LEXIS 695 (Atlantic Reporter, Second Series)

Halliday v. Cienkowski

Opinion of the Court

Per Curiam,

This is an appeal from the refusal to take off a judgment of nonsuit in an action of trespass for slanderous words. To the opinion of the court below * may he added the following cases, representative of the supporting decisions in other jurisdictions: De Santo v. De Nicola, 99 Conn. 717, 122 A. 708, and Warren v. Ray, 155 Mich. 91, *124 118 N. W. 741, both holding that such words are not libelous per se in the absence of special circumstances showing that the words were not used in their ordinary-meaning; and Terwilliger v. Wands, 17 N. Y. 54, holding that mental distress and consequent physical illness do not constitute special damages recoverable where the words used are not actionable per se.

Judgment affirmed.

*

Halliday v. Cienkowslei, 32 D. & C. 410.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.