James De Sapio v. Herman S. Kohlmeyer

[12]     The plaintiff-respondent James De Sapio was employed as a block trader by defendant-appellant Kohlmeyer from November, 1970 until April, 1971, at which time he was discharged. In January, 1972, plaintiff sought employment with another firm which, like Kohlmeyer, was a member of both the New York and American Stock Exchanges. In so applying, plaintiff authorized an investigation of his employment history. As part of the investigation, a representative of the defendant Fidelifacts interviewed a partner of Kohlmeyer. Subsequently, plaintiff instituted this action alleging that the Kohlmeyer partner published defamatory remarks to the investigator regarding [35 N.Y.2d 402 Page 404]