''Nader v. General Motors Corp.'' (25 N.Y. 2d 560, 1970) was a court case in which author and automobile safety lecturer

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American lawyer and political activist involved in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. He is a Perennial candidate, perennial presidential candidate. His 1965 book '' ...

claimed that

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

had "conduct da campaign of intimidation against him in order to 'suppress plaintiff's criticism of and prevent his disclosure of information' about its products" regarding his book ''

Unsafe at Any Speed ''Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile'' is a non-fiction book by consumer advocate Ralph Nader, first published in 1965. Its central theme is that car manufacturers resisted the introduction of safety features ...

''. Mere information gathering is not sufficient for action under intrusion upon seclusion tort: "privacy is invaded only if the information sought is of a confidential nature and the defendant's conduct was unreasonably intrusive." Judge Brietel concluded that GM's actions "constitute intrusion upon privacy". Among the court's findings was the conclusion that private detectives hired by General Motors to follow Nader were in their rights to follow him into a bank, but they crossed a line when looking over his shoulder to read what he was writing on a deposit slip.

References

{{General Motors 1970 in New York (state) 1970 in United States case law General Motors litigation Law articles needing an infobox New York state case law Ralph Nader United States privacy case law