Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. C. R. Grove, Trustee
Headline: Court refuses to review a libel verdict against a credit-reporting firm, leaving a jury award intact and keeping state defamation rules applicable to private credit reports.
Holding: The Court denied the petition for writ of certiorari, leaving the Third Circuit’s reinstatement of a libel verdict against a credit-reporting company in place.
- Leaves a $110,000 libel verdict against a credit-reporting firm in place.
- Allows states to apply their defamation laws to private credit reports.
- Signals continued legal risk for companies publishing commercial credit information.
Summary
Background
Dun & Bradstreet, a company that publishes confidential credit reports, analyzed Altoona Clay Products after finding a $60,000 unsatisfied judgment in a county record. In January 1963 Dun & Bradstreet reported the judgment but did not make clear it applied to a different, defunct company; the company retracted the error in April 1963. A bankruptcy trustee for Altoona sued, and a jury awarded $110,000 in general damages under Pennsylvania libel law.
Reasoning
The District Court set aside that verdict, relying on the Court’s New York Times decision limiting libel awards for protected speech. The Third Circuit reversed and reinstated the jury award, saying New York Times did not extend to private, confidential credit reports. The Third Circuit emphasized that Altoona lacked the same access to the publication to correct the mistake, the reports were not part of public debate, and the dispute was about factual error rather than opinion. The Supreme Court then denied review, leaving the Third Circuit’s reinstated verdict in place.
Real world impact
Because the Court declined to review, the jury award and the Third Circuit’s reasoning remain effective in this dispute. Credit-reporting companies can still face state defamation claims over mistaken private reports in this case’s jurisdiction. The denial is not a broad Supreme Court ruling on the constitutional limits of libel law, so unsettled legal questions could arise later.
Dissents or concurrances
Justice Douglas dissented from the denial. He would have granted review and argued for reconsidering whether libel and slander awards survive First Amendment protections, including stronger protection for commercial publications.
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