Soffos v. EatonSoffos v. Eaton
Lead Opinion
The action below was in the nature of one for malicious prosecution. The basis of the complaint was four landlord and tenant actions brought against appellant for possession of property leased to him as a dwelling by the appellee B. M. Eaton. The first action was by Eaton, whо alleged he desired to alter (remodel) the premises. Trial was had and finding made in favor of appellant. The second action was also by Eaton, who this time alleged appellant and his wife were disorderly and committing a nuisance. Trial of this action also resulted in a finding for appellаnt. Immediately following this finding Eaton and his wife conveyed the property to their daughter, Mrs. Jenkins, who thereafter brought action for possession, alleging that she desired possession in good faith for her own personal use. This action was dismissed on a “technical objection.” Mrs. Jenkins then brought a second аction on the same ground, and trial resulted in a finding for appellant.
Appellant alleged that the two actions of Mr. Eaton were for himself and his wife, and that the two actions by Mrs. Jenkins were for herself and her parents; and Mr. Eaton, Mrs. Eaton and Mrs. Jenkins were all named as defendants in the present action. Appellant alleged that the four landlord and tenant actions were “instigated” by Mr. and Mrs. Eaton and were all filed “maliciously without just cause and in bad faith.”
Appellant alleged the folio-wing damages: Expense of defending the actions, injury to his reputation resulting from the charge that he and his wife were disorderly and committing a nuisance, and mental anguish pending tbe action, due to threatened loss of his home. He also sought punitive damages.
The trial court granted a motion to dismiss the amended complaint, and refused to allow the filing of a second amended complaint which contained substantiаlly the same allegations as the first. This appeal, presents the question whether the amended complaint stated a cause of action, i.e., stated a claim upon which relief could be granted.
The above rule was reaffirmed in Melvin v. Pence,
In none of the actions here complained of was there an arrest or seizure of property but appellant argues that special injury has been alleged in the instant case. He contends that thе alleged injury to his reputation and mental anguish constitute special injury within the meaning of the rule. In the Peckham case special injury is described as that “which would not necessarily result in all suits prosecuted to recover for like causes of action.” In the Pence case they are desсribed as “injury beyond what assertion of rights ordinarily entails.” Accepting those statements as a guide we must hold that the damages claimed by appellant are not special injuries. Practically every defendant to a law suit suffers some damage to his reputation. The damage will vary according tо the nature of the suit, the amount of publicity it receives, and the attending circumstances, but this is only a matter of degree. Few law suits enhance a defendant’s reputation; the great majority of defendants suffer some injury to reputation. One of the grounds upon which a landlord may seek possession оf housing accommodations under the District of Columbia Emergency Rent Law
We also must hold that the mеntal an-quish of defendant from threatened loss of his home did not constitute special injury. All tenants sued for possession suffer, to some extent, the same mental anguish. The fact that present crowded conditions in Washington make the loss of living quarters more serious than in normal times is again a matter of degrеe and not of substance. Mental anguish of some sort is usually suffered by a defendant threatened with loss of his home, a judgment for money damages, or other form of judgment.
Appellant argues that the Pence case holds that damage to reputation and mental anguish are special injuries. We do nоt so understand that case. It was there held that effectual revocation of a private detective’s license, preventing him from carrying on his business, constituted special injury. It was further held that having established his right of action by showing special injury, the plaintiff was entitled to show injury to reputation and mentаl suffering as elements of damage. Holding these items to be proper elements of damage, the court pointed out that “injury to reputation is a usual result of groundless charges publicized by litigation,” and that “necessarily also he must have experienced mental and emotional stress, uncertаinty and worry while the proceedings were undetermined.” It appears to us that the Pence case, instead of supporting appellant’s claim, plainly holds that some damage to reputation and some mental anguish are usually and necessarily suffered by anyone who is required to defend, еven though successfully, a law suit.
Appellant also contends that since he was required to defend four actions his case is different from the Peckham case where only one action was involved. Again reliance is placed on the Pence case. It was there said that “the right to litigate is not the right to become a nuisance”; but the court said that the exceptions to the general. rule apply “when the proceeding has no relation to protection of any right of the suitor or any public right which he reasonably may have a hand in vindicating.” It cannot be said that the procеedings complained of here had no relation to protecting the rights of those suing. There were, in effect, three proceedings for re
It would he difficult and confusing to have one rule apply where a single basic action is involved, and a different rule where a series of actions are involved. Would the line be drawn between one action and two actions, or would a minimum of three actions be required? A single action conceivably can involve far more malice in its institution and cause far more damage to a defendant than several actions of another type and nature. Again, while the actions here in question were all brought within a period of six months, would a distinction be made had a period of six months or more elapsed between the bringing of each suit. Rapid succession of suits may more strongly suggest malice and lack of probable cause, but three suits brought over a period of three years may be as malicious and lacking in probable cause and as damaging as the same number of suits brought within a period of three months. The highest court of this jurisdiction has, in effect, declared that public policy forbids an action for malicious prosecution based on a civil cause when no special injury is shown. We do not feel justified in restricting that rule on a basis of the number of suits or the time within which they are brought.
Appellant relies on Shedd v. Patterson,
In our opinion the amended complaint failed to state a cause оf action and the judgment of the lower court was correct.
Affirmed.
Notes
Code 1940, §§ 45-1601 to 45—1611.
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting).
Four times a tenant was haled into court by his landlord in an attempt to dislodge him from possession of dwelling property. Four times the tenant prevailed and the court found plaintiff’s suits to be without merit. All four suits were filed maliciously, without just cause, and in bad faith. The tenant suffered various items of damage which he listed in his complaint including not only the usual damages which might be expected to flow from such a series of suits but also special damages to his reputation because of the charge of disorderly conduct made against himself and wife. All that, the plaintiff below stated in his complaint and presumably could prove. And yet the trial judge refused to let him prove anything and refused to require any answering pleading by defendants. And the majority opinion upholds that action and says that plaintiff has not stated enough to make out a cause of actiоn. I cannot agree that this plaintiff and others like him — victims of multiple, malicious actions — must be without a remedy. I think that, save in exceptional cases, it is repugnant to the spirit of present-day pleading to judge a claim in advance, and before any evidence is presented. This is not such an exсeption.
I agree that the courts should be open and accessible to the public and that no man should be deterred from asserting an honest claim by fear of having to answer a retaliatory damage suit if his action should happen to fail. But there must be some check upon the spirit of mаlice which, it is here charged, induced the filing of repetitious suits against the defendant (plaintiff here) in the face of consistently adverse court
Bound as we are by the decision in the Peckham case, we are certainly not bound to extend the ruling there made and create a no-man’s-land in the law and invite unscrupulous plaintiffs to use multiple suits as a means of wеaring a defendant down to the point of capitulation.
Moreover, there are two sharp points of difference between that case and this: (1) There the rule was applied to a single civil action; here we deal not with one action but with four, all instituted with malice, without just cause, and in bаd faith, and all being part of a plan to thwart the law and deprive the tenant of property which was rightfully his. The complaint, in effect, charges a wrongful design, almost a bad-faith conspiracy to accomplish that improper purpose. (2) There the court limited the rule by denying recovery bеcause there had been no arrest of the person or seizure of property “and no special injury sustained, which would riot necessarily result in all suits prosecuted to recover for like causes of action.” Here the complaint expressly charges injury to plaintiff’s reputation bеcause of the charge that he and his wife had been guilty of disorderly conduct and had committed a nuisance. That, if he could prove it, would amount to the kind of special injury described in the Peckham case, for it is certainly not the.type of damage which would “necessarily result” in all landlord and tenant actions. How far plaintiff's proof would have gone in that direction we have no way of knowing, because the trial court refused to let him prove anything. But we must for present purposes accept as true his allegations that all of the suits were brought in malice and in bad faith and caused the special damages he described.
The principles I have stated are supported and well summarized in Shedd v. Patterson,
From the authorities cited above, as well as from the Peckham case itself, I see no escaping the conclusion that it was error to shut off the plaintiff at the very threshold of the case and to refuse to allow him to present any evidence whatever in support of his claim. As was said in a recent case:
It is against the obliteration of plaintiff’s rights and the creation of an unwarranted ’immunity in the defendant that I protest.
Clark v. Associated Retail Credit Men,