44 S.E.2d 694 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1947
1. A petition sounding in "tort" which fails to allege any actionable negligence and which fails to allege any physical injury to the person or any pecuniary loss, does not set forth a cause of action, and is subject to dismissal on general demurrer. Code, § 105-101; Hendricks v. Jones,
2. The statement that one said "you jumped on him" does not impute to a person any crime or offense under which one might be indicted and convicted under the laws of this State. The words "jumped on him" do not of themselves imply a crime. Words, to be slanderous, must impute to another a crime punishable by law; or charge him with having some contagious disorder, or being guilty of some debasing act which may exclude him from society; or a charge made against another with reference to his trade, office, or profession calculated to injure him therein; or any disparaging words productive of special damages following naturally therefrom. In the last case, the special damages is essential to support the action; in the first three, damage is inferred. Since no allegations were contained in the petition as to any injury to the petition in his trade, office, or profession, no contagious disorder or debasing act was alleged, and since no special damages were alleged, the petition did not set forth a cause of action for slander, and was subject to dismissal on this ground. Code, § 105-702; Mell v. Edge,
Demurrers were sustained to the petition with the right to amend. By amendment the plaintiff alleged that the defendant acted as if angry, and spoke loudly, so as to be heard across the room, the plaintiff then being ten to fifteen feet from the defendant, and others were present and did see and hear what was said and done, with intent to embarrass and humiliate and did so do, and further that the language used by the defendant in effect and by implication tended to imply that plaintiff had either committed a crime or a breach of the peace by some manner of assault or affray with the waiter and employee, that he was an odious person, and thus tended to slander and ridicule, and hold him up to public disrepute and embarrass, humiliate, and disdain in the public eye as one who would cause a public disturbance and breach of the peace with persons there. That the defendant could and should have known that the plaintiff was in said place and could see all that happened there and could have known that such thing did not transpire. The plaintiff alleged further that the defendant's *868 place of business was near the plaintiff's work and place of business and that the defendant knew that the plaintiff decently behaved and comported himself there and that the said waiter was a small boy of teen age, and that it was the duty of defendant to know and ascertain if said report was true before himself blabbing it out so recklessly so as to be heard and observed, that he owed a special duty to his customers to prevent such an unjustified occurrence toward them, that the same made him sick and sore mentally and physically, embarrassed and humiliated him, held him up to public disrepute as an odious person and was a flagrant violation of a public duty owing to him to serve him and to prevent the happening of said incident, and things, and oral defamation, flowing to him peculiarly and worked the loss of his time for a futile purpose and trip to said place, and caused him to be sick and sore for some days thereafter. That the oral defamation could have been avoided by due circumspection, and defendant wholly failed to exercise his duty to use such circumspection and caution and exhibited an utter disregard of any such duty.
The case came on for a hearing on the petition as amended, the demurrers were renewed to the petition as amended, the demurrers were sustained by the trial court, and a bill of exceptions was filed to this court, assigning the sustaining of the demurrers as error. 1. There is no law of force in this State which imposes upon the owner or operator of a restaurant the private or public duty of promptness or of any particular degree of courtesy in taking orders for, or serving food, to a customer. Although such owner or operator may owe to the public and his customers a moral duty as to courtesy and prompt service, there is no legal duty resting upon him in regard to such services. The plaintiff's petition did not allege any injury to his person or purse and no special damages were alleged, the plaintiff alleging that he was humiliated, embarrassed, held up to public disrepute, that he was sick and sore mentally and physically, and that he suffered great mental pain and anguish. The facts alleged did not show any physical injury *869 or damage, or any pecuniary loss, the words "sick and sore mentally and physically," being insufficient to allege any specific injury or suffering.
The law protects the person and the purse. The person includes the reputation. Johnson v. Bradstreet Company,
A petition sounding in tort which fails to allege any actionable negligence and which fails to allege any physical injury to the person or any pecuniary loss, does not set forth a cause of action, and is subject to dismissal on general demurrer. Code, § 105-101; Hendricks v. Jones, Clack v. Thomason, supra.
2. The plaintiff in his amendment alleged that the words "you jumped on him" in effect and by implication tended to imply that the plaintiff had either committed a crime or a breach of the peace by some manner of assault or affray with the waiter. These allegations being in the disjunctive were insufficient to invoke the office of innuendo which might explain doubtful or ambiguous words. For a defamatory oral utterance to be slanderous as imputing a crime, the statement must not only be such as may convey to the auditor the impression that the crime in question is being charged, but it must be couched in such language as might reasonably be expected to convey that meaning to any one who happened to hear the utterance. Whitley v. Newman,
The court did not err in sustaining the demurrers of the defendant and in dismissing the plaintiff's petition.
Judgment affirmed. MacIntyre, P. J., and Gardner, J.,concur.