90 So. 2d 172 | Miss. | 1956
This is an action for libel and slander brought by the appellant, E. L. Miley, in the Circuit Court of Newton County against the appellees, Charles E. Foster, a resident of Newton County, Implement Dealers Mutual Insurance Company, a non-resident corporation domiciled in the State of North Dakota and doing business in Mississippi, and W. J. Perryman and Company, Inc., a nonresident corporation domiciled in the State of Alabama and having its principal office in Birmingham, Alabama.
The trial in the court below resulted in a jury verdict and judgment for appellees, and from the judgment entered, this appeal is prosecuted.
The case arose as follows: The appellant and his brother, Monroe Miley, operated a meat market in the
“January 26, 1955
“Mr. Charles E. Foster
Foster Mutual Insurance Agency
Box 222
Union, Mississippi
Dear Mr. Foster:
Re: Implement Dealers No. 41227
E. L. & M. Miley
We have recently only been able to complete an engineering report of the above risk and in view of the information which we have received, we will be unable to continue this liability.
Our report covers the financial condition of the insureds and their credit rating and in view of the information which we have, we will have to ask to be relieved of liability without any delay.
The early receipt of the policy as evidence of cancellation will certainly be appreciated.
Yours very truly,
W. J. Perryman & Company, Inc.
s/ K. L. Williams
Chief Underwriter”
KLW/fb
The appellees filed separate answers, denying that the letter in question was libelous, or that it was written maliciously, and averring that the contents thereof were privileged, and denying that Foster had made the charges against the appellant as alleged in the declaration.
In submitting the case to the jury, the court instructed the jury that the contents of the letter in question were not libelous and left to the determination of the jury the question as to whether Foster had made the defamatory statements ascribed to him in the declaration. This question was resolved by the jury in favor of the appellees.
The appellant contends that the verdict of the jury is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. We do not think so. The evidence on the question as to whether Foster made the defamatory statements ascribed to him was in conflict and clearly presented a question
We are of the opinion that the court correctly instructed the jury that the letter in question was not libelous. A casual reading of the letter discloses that it contains nothing of a defamatory nature. If the letter had been libelous, however, it was clearly a qualifiedly privileged communication written by the general agent to his local agent about a matter in which both were interested and would not form the basis of an action in the absence of a showing of malice. In the case of Louisiana Oil Corporation, et al v. Renno, 173 Miss. 609, 157 So. 705, the Court defined a qualifiedly privileged communication as one made in good faith without malice by a person having an interest in or duty respecting the subject to a person having a corresponding interest or duty, though containing otherwise slanderous matter.
In the very recent case of Killebrew v. Jackson City Lines, Inc., 82 So. 2d 648, the Court said: “In the absence of proof that the words were spoken by motives of spite, ill will, malicious purpose, or of a wanton disregard whether the words were true or false, the privilege of the occasion is not destroyed,” citing Louisiana Oil Corporation, et al v. Renno, supra, and Scott-Burr Stores Corp. v. Edgar, 181 Miss. 486, 177 So. 766.
That the writer of the letter was not actuated by malice, spite, ill will or a wanton disregard whether the words written were true or false is inescapable from the evidence. W. J. Perryman and Company did no.t even know the appellant. The letter was written upon information furnished by a reliable credit reporting agency, and there is nothing in the evidence to indicate bad faith on the part of the writer of the letter.
The appellant further contends, however, that' the court erred in admitting in evidence the credit report which formed the basis of the letter.. We find no merit
It is further contended by the appellant that the court erred in not permitting him to show the financial worth and condition of the appellee insurance company. This evidence was of course offered under the issue of punitive damages. Without other discussion that might be made of this complaint, it is sufficient to say that in view of the jury’s verdict which denied the appellant the right to recover even actual damages, the action of the court in sustaining the objection to said evidence was harmless and does not constitute reversible error.
We have carefully considered the exceptions of the appellant to a number of the court’s instructions and find in them no basis- for reversal.
Considering the record as a whole, we are of the opinion that the case was properly submitted to the jury under instructions which correctly announced the applicable controlling principles of law, and that the record
Affirmed.