LIBEL AND SLANDER-CHARGE OF COMMUNISM AS LIBEL

Plaintiff a federal official, brought a libel action based on defendant's publication, in 1944, of an article charging that plaintiff had been campaign manager for a Communist candidate in a New York election; had been employed by the Daily Worker; and had caused defendant's removal from a Bronx ration board because of defendant's opposition to left-wing activities connected therewith. Plaintiff contended that the article was libelous in that (1) it charged that he was a Communist; and (2) it charged that he had conspired, in violation of the duties of his office, to oust defendant. Held, the complaint stated a good cause of action on the second ground but not on the first. Two of the five-judge court dissented, concluding that the complaint did not support either ground, but that plaintiff would have had a good cause of action if defendant had directly charged that he was a Communist.

Mencher v. Chesley, 270 App. Div. 1040, 63 N.Y.S. (2d) 108 (1946).