Neiman-Marcus v. Lait
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
13 F.R.D. 311 (S.D.N.Y. 1952)
Relevant factsFree
Lait (defendant) wrote a book claiming Neiman-Marcus's saleswomen were call girls and that "most" of its salesmen were "fairies." Thirty of the store's 382 saleswomen (plaintiffs) sued for libel on behalf of the group, and 15 of its 25 salesmen (plaintiffs) did the same; Lait moved to dismiss both groups' claims.
IssueFree
Whether members of a libeled group of 25, referred to collectively as "most" of the group, can bring a libel suit based on that group-wide statement.