Minding the Store

17. Critical Decisions

17 Critical Decisions INTHE LATE FORTIES, Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer wrote a series of books, Chicago Confidential, Washington Confidential, and New York Confidential, all of which contained bits of local scandal about notable people in those communities. Curiously, they were not sued for libel. In 1952, they published a successor, U.S.A. Confidential, covering many of the cities not included in their earlier works. In this book they devoted several pages to NeimanMarcus employees, charging our mannequins and Man's Shop salesmen with acts of moral turpitude. We were incensed by these allegations, and felt a strong obligation to defend the moral integrity of the members of our staff who had been intimidated. We believed also that if we permitted the stories to go unchallenged, many young people might be discouraged from seeking employment with us. I consulted Abe Fortas, our Washington lawyer, and told him that we wanted to file a suit against the authors and their publisher. After investigating the facts, he rendered the opinion that certain of our employees had been libeled and that we could institute a class libel suit in their behalf. I recall him saying, "Before you make a decision to undertake this action, I must advise that libel suits are messy, troublesome, and expensive. Don't go into it unless you are prepared to live with it for a couple of years." Despite the forewarning, I felt that someone had to stand up against such 349 CRITICAL DECISIONS scandalmongers and fight them in the courts. I made the decision to prosecute. In 1952 we sued in behalf of our employees for $7,500,000 in what was one of the first class·action suits in the country. The publisher settled out of court within a few months, agreeing not to print any more copies of the book. The suit against the authors dragged on for several years, during which time I was subjected to intimidation, insinuations of blackmail, and harassment of various types. Finally, in 19"55, we made an out·of·court settle· ment with the authors for $10,000, the publication of half.page advertisements of retraction in several newspapers across the country, and letters of apology to each of the individuals who were listed as plaintiffs. This settlement was a far cry from the $7,500,000 damages asked, but it did accomplish the objective of vindicating our staff. The cost of the advertisements, the cash payment, and the defendants' legal fees took all the profit out of the book for both the authors and the publisher. They wrote no more books of this type. The class suit itself and the unique terms of settlement were con· sidered so unusual that they were incorporated into the case books of many of the country's law schools. I've met many young lawyers who have said that their first acquaintance with Neiman·Marcus came about through their exposure to this case in law school. Now I can understand why more people don't sue for libel, for as Abe Fortas had predicted, "Libel suits are messy, troublesome, and . " expenSIve. At 1:35 A.M. on Saturday morning, December 19, 1964, I was awakened by the incessant ringing of the telephone. We had reo tired an hour before and I was in deep sleep. It took me a few seconds before I could comprehend what the voice on the other end of the line was saying. "Mr. Marcus, we have just discovered a little fire in the store, and we wanted to alert you. There's no necessity for you to come down, but we'll call you back as soon as we get it under control." I turned over and went back to an 350 CRITICAL DECISIONS uneasy sleep. Forty minutes later the phone rang again, and this time 1 was fully alert to our store superintendent's message. "The fire is spreading," he said. "I think you'd better get down here at once!" 1 jumped into warm clothes, drove at high speed on the deserted, icy streets, and arrived at the site of the burning building within fifteen minutes after the second phone call. Smoke was billowing from the upper floors, flames were licking the early morning air from the second-floor windows. It was obvious before 1 entered the building that a...