The Handbill That Cost a Milkman His Customers
Fired from his wagon, E. P. Hall went into the dairy business for himself. Then the Elgin Dairy Company printed a circular accusing him of embezzlement and posted it across the city. He wants $10,000.
E. P. Hall yesterday commenced suit for damages against the Elgin Dairy Company, Messrs. R. Galloway, [——] Sonntag and A. W. Pratt, in the sum of $10,000 for defamation of character. He alleges that the defendants on or about April 8 issued the following handbill, or circular, which he says is false, malicious and contains libelous matter:
"To Whom It May Concern: It has come to our knowledge that E. P. Hall, formerly the driver of one of our milk wagons, is endeavoring to injure our customers by repeating a report that we discharged him unjustly and without cause. We take this method of warning him, and stating that we discharged him only upon his own confession of having wrongfully converted to his own use considerable sums of money that came into his hands, and belonging to us. We are compelled to make this statement in order to protect our business from the injury he is doing us by his constant repetition of a 'tale' which he knows to be untrue. Yours respectfully, ELGIN DAIRY COMPANY."
The dairy company is alleged to have circulated the handbills throughout the city; that Hall was, as he is now, in the dairy business and dependent on the public for patronage and support; that by means of these circulars he has been injured in his business, divers parties refusing to deal with him, damaging his receipts to the extent of $1,000; and that by reason of the publication and circulation of the circular his good name and reputation have suffered to the extent that $10,000 will assuage.
“We discharged him only upon his own confession of having wrongfully converted to his own use considerable sums of money that came into his hands, and belonging to us.”
Before online reviews and background checks, a printed circular handed round a city was enough to end a small tradesman — and the only remedy was to sue for defamation and prove the dollar cost of a damaged name. Hall's suit is a reminder that reputation has always been working capital for the self-employed. The same fight now plays out in review sites and reference checks, where a former employer's sentence can follow a person for years.
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