Fay Young and Forrest Young v. That Was the Week That Was A/K/A Tw-3
Cases that cite this one
22 later published cases cite this decision.
- Melton v. Board of County Commissioners of Hamilton County (District Court, S.D. Ohio 2003)
- Long v. American Red Cross (District Court, S.D. Ohio 1993)
- Romaine v. Kallinger (N.J. 1988)
- Reeves v. United Artists (District Court, N.D. Ohio 1983)
- State ex rel. Cable News Network, Inc. v. Bellbrook-Sugarcreek Local Schools (Slip Opinion) (Ohio 2020)
- Arnold v. American National Red Cross (Ohio Ct. App. 1994)
- Ruzicka v. Conde Nast Publications, Inc. (D. Minn. 1990)
- Morgan v. Hustler Magazine, Inc. (District Court, N.D. Ohio 1987)
- Reeves v. United Artists Corporation (6th Cir. 1985)
- Lambert v. Garlo (Ohio Ct. App. 1985)
- Reeves v. United Artists Corp. (6th Cir. 1985)
- In re" Agent Orange" Product Liability Litigation (District Court, E.D. New York 1984)
- Estate of Leach v. Shapiro (Ohio Ct. App. 1984)
- Loft v. Fuller (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1981)
- Moore v. Charles B. Pierce Film Enterprises, Inc. (Tex. App. 1979)
- Justice v. Belo Broadcasting Corp. (District Court, N.D. Texas 1979)
- Sorin v. BOARD OF ED., ETC. (District Court, N.D. Ohio 1978)
- F & J Enterprises, Inc. v. Columbia Broadcasting Systems, Inc. (District Court, N.D. Ohio 1974)
- Fletcher v. Florida Publishing Co. (Duval County Circuit Court 1974)
- Shibley v. Time, Inc. (Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court 1974)
- Bayer v. Ralston Purina Company (Mo. 1972)
- Betty B. Rawls, Cross v. The Conde Nast Publications, Inc., Cross (5th Cir. 1971)
This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.
Opinion
The National Broadcasting Company’s nationwide television program “That Was The Week That Was” on April 20, 1965, contained this statement:
“Mrs. Katherine Young of Syracuse, New York, who died at 99 leaving 5 sons, 5 daughters, 67 grandchildren, 72 great-grandchildren, and 73 greatgréat-grandchildren — gets our First Annual Booby Prize in the Birth Control Sweepstakes.”
This telecast occurred approximately fourteen days after the death of Mrs. Young. Two of Mrs. Young’s sons filed suit for invasion of right of privacy, as a class action on behalf of themselves and approximately 300 other descendants of their deceased mother, including children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.
Jurisdiction is based upon diversity of citizenship. Ohio law controls.
Plaintiffs prayed for $5,000,000 compensatory damages, $5,000,000 for unjust enrichment and $5,000,000 in punitive damages. District Judge Thomas D. Lambros granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment in an opinion published at 312 F.Supp. 1337. Reference is made to the opinion of the District Court for a more detailed statement of the case. We affirm.
A right of action for invasion of privacy is recognized under Ohio law. Housh v. Peth, 165 Ohio St. 35, 133 N.E.2d 340. The general rule, as applied by this Court in Cordell v. Detective Publications, 419 F.2d 989 (6th Cir. 1969) is that:
“[T]he right lapses with the death of the person who enjoyed it, and one *266 cannot recover for this kind of invasion of the privacy of a relative, no matter how close the relationship.”
We find no Ohio decision to the contrary and must assume that Ohio courts would follow the general rule. If the above quoted statement be construed as an invasion of the privacy of Mrs. Young, her descendants have no right of action.
Plaintiffs-appellants contend that they have the right to maintain a suit for the invasion of their own privacy and the privacy of the descendants whom they undertake to represent by class action. We find that no such right of action exists under the averments of the complaint in the present ease.
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.