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Guilford Trans. Indus. Inc. v. Wilner

A newspaper column located on the op-ed page of a newspaper, that discusses a matter of public interest, should be accorded a high level of protection under the First Amendment and not form the basis for a claim for implied libel, unless the underlying facts are false; otherwise the expression of critical opinions could be chilled.

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The full case caption appears at the end of this opinion.

SCHWELB, Associate Judge: This appeal arises from an action for libel. The plaintiffs are Guilford Transportation Industries, Inc. (Guilford), Timothy Mellon, and David Fink. Guilford operates a freight railroad system in New England, consisting of the Maine Central, the Boston and Maine, and Springfield Terminal railroads. Mellon and Fink founded Guilford in 1981 and own it. Mellon is a member of Guilford’s Board of Directors, and Fink manages Guilford’s operations. The sole defendant is Frank Wilner, the author of an “Op-Ed” column which appeared on June 2, 1997 in the Journal of Commerce, a trade publication said to be widely read by persons in the railroad industry and by regulatory officials. In this column, a copy of which is appended to this opinion, Wilner discussed an attempt by Guilford to purchase or lease from Amtrak certain rail operations in the northeastern United States.

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