Yoder v. Smith’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

7 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 11 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"* * * We think it sufficient to say that in most of the cases in which a recovery was permitted the actionable conduct of the creditor lay in the fact that he gave the general public information concerning a private matter in which it had, or could have, no legitimate interest, and did so in a manner that was coercive and oppressive. Frequently, except for the truth of the publication, the words and methods used would have given basis for a suit for libel or slander and carried to the public generally the inference that the complainant was a `dead beat,' habitually refused to pay his debts and was not entitled to financial credit. "We find none of these elements in the case before us. * * * It must be borne in mind that an employer has a natural and proper interest in the facts relative to debts owed by his employees. He is subject to the expense and inconvenience of defending himself in garnishee proceedings wherein a percentage of his employees' wages may be taken to apply on such debts and thus additional and burdensome bookkeeping entries may be imposed upon him. He has the right to hire only those who pay their debts and may take a pardonable pride in the reputation of his employees in that respect. He is not in a category with the general public which cannot have any legitimate interest in a purely private matter between a creditor and a debtor. For the reasons above stated an employer has a right to know the status of the financial obligations of his employees and, wh”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 155 So. 2d 909 - Pack v. Wise

2. “"It is generally recognized that a creditor has a right to take reasonable action to pursue his debtor and persuade payment, although the steps taken may result in some invasion of the debtor's privacy. So, it has been held that an employer may be informed of a debt owed by one of his workers."”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 155 So. 2d 909 - Pack v. Wise

3. “"Almost all decisions on the point agree it is not an actionable invasion of a debtor's right of privacy for one, attempting to collect a bill, to communicate to the debtor's employer the fact of his debt."”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 155 So. 2d 909 - Pack v. Wise