## Facts

- Benjamin Polycarpo Soley was injured in a bus incident in the Panama Canal Zone and previously sued the bus company for negligence, alleging injuries including back pain and impotence.
- In 1964, after a bench trial, the district court entered judgment for the bus company.
- Four days later, The Star & Herald Co.’s newspaper published a report on the trial stating that medical testimony was inconclusive and that Soley had been treated before the accident for a condition he claimed was caused by the fall.
- About one year after publication, Soley filed a libel action in the same district court, initially pro se and later by amended complaint with counsel.
- Soley alleged the publication was false, defamatory, and malicious; that defendants knew it was false; and that it harmed his reputation, occupation, and family, causing financial and physical consequences.
- Defendants moved to strike/dismiss the amended complaint for failure to state a claim.
- The district court dismissed the case after argument, indicating reliance on the judge’s familiarity with the earlier negligence case.

## Issues

1. Whether Soley’s complaint alleged sufficient facts to state a plausible libel claim at the pleading stage.
2. Whether the district court improperly relied on matters outside the pleadings (its knowledge of the prior negligence case) to dismiss without treating the motion as one for summary judgment and providing Rule 56 procedural protections.

## Decision

- The Fifth Circuit reversed the dismissal and remanded for further proceedings.
- The court held that, though inartfully pleaded, Soley’s allegations were sufficient to state a potential libel claim.
- The court held that the district court’s apparent reliance on facts outside the pleadings required Rule 56 procedures, which were not provided.

## Legal Principles

- A defamation complaint generally survives dismissal where it identifies the publication and alleges falsity, defamatory meaning, fault (including malice where alleged), and resulting harm, even if drafted imprecisely.
- On a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, the court is limited to the pleadings; considering matters outside the pleadings converts the motion into one for summary judgment.
- When a motion is effectively treated as summary judgment, the court must provide notice and a fair opportunity to submit evidentiary material; a court may not dispose of a case based on unincorporated records or the judge’s personal familiarity with earlier proceedings.

## Conclusion

The Fifth Circuit required that Soley’s libel claim proceed beyond the pleading stage because the complaint plausibly alleged defamation and because dismissal based on extrinsic facts, without summary-judgment safeguards, was procedurally improper.


Soley v. Star & Herald Co., 390 F.2d 364 (5th Cir. 1968)