Puente Sues Dean Griswold, University; Seeks $1 Million

A million-dollar damage suit naming the University and Dean Griswold of the Law School as co-defendants was filed in the Federal District Court in Washington, D.C., Wednesday.

Dr. J. Irizarry Y. Puente, a Washington lawyer and the author of several recent books on Latin American tax structures, charged the University with illegally appropriating his ideas for putting out a series of books on foreign tax systems.

According to the suit, Puente discussed plans for his books with Griswold in 1950. Later, Puente asserted, the Law School announced that it would put out similar tax pamphlets on 30 foreign countries, thus damaging the sale of his books and rendering his unpublished manuscripts "practically valueless."

Charging Griswold with being "adversely interested in his project," Puente asserted that Griswold had been planning his own tax reports in conjunction with the U.N. since 1948, but had kept the fact hidden when the two men met in 1950 to discuss the project.

Griswold was in Washington yesterday and could not be reached for comment.

The Law School did announce in December, 1953, however, that it would publish reports on the development of taxation in 30 major foreign countries as soon as financing could be arranged. Puentes had asserted that the School made its announcement last February.

By July, 1954, American business firms had contributed the initial cost, and the Law School began work on its "World Tax Series."

Designed to aid in a comparative study of world financial systems and carried out in conjunction with a resolution of the United Nations Social and Economic Council, the Law School's reports will not be published for two years.