Hall v. Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co.

Opinion

THE COURT.

Appellant Roland K. Hall seeks damages from respondent Pacific Telephone Company because of alleged negligence and breach of contract in deleting appellant’s professional listing in the classified telephone directory. The appeal is from a judgment of dismissal after a general demurrer was sustained without leave to amend.

Because the case was disposed of on demurrer, it must be taken as true, as the complaint alleges, that respondent improperly deleted appellant’s professional listing from the yellow pages of the telephone directory.

Appellant contends that limitation of a telephone company’s liability, by tariff, is unlawful. He concedes, however, that the issue has been resolved to the contrary by an earlier decision by a Court of Appeal.

(Cole

v.

Pacific Tel. & Tel. Co.

(1952) 112 Cal.App.2d 416, 419 [246 P.2d 686].) He requests that we overrule

Cole;

the Supreme Court having denied a hearing in that case

(id.

at p. 420), we are not inclined to comply with the request. Moreover, in

Davidian

v.

Pacific Tel. & Tel. Co.

(1971) 16 Cal.App.3d 750 [94 Cal.Rptr. 337], another appellate court has recently held contrary to appellant’s contention. Another very recent decision,

Product Research Associates

v.

Pacific Tel. & Tel. Co.

(1971) 16 Cal.App.3d 651 [94 Cal.Rptr. 216] (pet. hg. den.) is in principle inconsistent with the

Cole

and

Davidian

holdings. But

Product Research

did involve a