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Show . THE READER'S COURTROOM . , Sensitive Soprano Couldn't Collect Br Will Bernard, LL.8 May a Soprano Collect Damages Because Her Feelings are Hurt? A woman was hired to sing soprano in a church choir. After a few months, church officials decided de-cided that they didn't like her voice after all so they fired her. Since the woman's contract still had three months to go, they offered to pay her salary for the remaining period. But she wasn't satisfied A churchgoer and some friends were discussing their minister. "Why, he's just an old drunkard!" cried the man. When the minister heard about this, he sued the man for slander. At the trial, the man protested that "calling somebody a drunkard isn't so terrible" and that "a minister isn't any better than anybody else anyhow." But the court held him liable, saying that a minister's good name is not something to trifle with. The judge pointed out that a reputation for clean and upright living is vital. Are You Responsible For Damage Done By Your Cat? A man who owned a cat moved next door to a man who raised pigeons. As might be expected, trouble wasn't long in coming. One night the cat slipped into the neighbor's neigh-bor's garage and slew no less than 13 pigeons! The angry neighbor filed suit for the value of the birds. with that. She also claimed dam ages for embarrassment, saying that the affair had caused her "sickness of mind and mental agony." However, the court refused to grant any additional amount of money. The judge said that such an injury was too vague to be evaluated eval-uated In dollars and cents. A fisherman set up his nets near the shore of a large inland lake. Early the next morning, a man came along in a rowboat. scooped several dozen fish out of the nets, and went happily on his way But somebody tattled and the man was arrested on a charge of theft. At the trial, he claimed that fish are "free for all" until actually hauled ou- .f Jie water But the court disagreed and found the man guilty. The Judge said that fish belong U the first person who "captures" "cap-tures" them. charging that the cat's owner was guilty of harboring a "vicious animal." ani-mal." But the court turned down the neighbor's claim. The judge said the cat wasn't "vicious," but was merely "obeying the natural instinct of all cats " He added that it was far more sensible to guard the pigeons than to lock up the cat! |
