You are here: / / E-MAILS CONSTITUTED NONACTIONABLE OPINION AND POSTED FLYERS PROTECTED BY...

E-MAILS CONSTITUTED NONACTIONABLE OPINION AND POSTED FLYERS PROTECTED BY COMMON INTEREST PRIVILEGE.

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the defendant residential cooperative members and board were entitled to summary judgment in this defamation action. E-mails concerning plaintiff’s behavior and performance on the board were nonactionable expressions of opinion. A flyer indicating which shareholders were alleged to be in arrears was protected by the “common interest” qualified privilege:

“Expressions of an opinion, false or not, libelous or not, are constitutionally protected and may not be the subject of private damage actions'” … . “The issue of distinguishing between actionable fact and non-actionable opinion is a question of law for the court” … . Here, the statements contained in the two emails alleged to be defamatory amounted to subjective characterizations of the plaintiff’s behavior and an evaluation of her performance as a member of the Board, and thus constituted non-actionable expressions of opinion … . Accordingly, the email statements cannot serve as a basis for the imposition of liability.

The defendants further demonstrated that the challenged statements set forth in the “Shareholders In Arrears” flyers posted in the building lobby, which listed the apartment numbers of shareholders who allegedly owed arrears and the amount of those arrears, were protected by the qualified common-interest privilege … . Although a qualified privilege may be lost by proof that the defendant acted out of malice …, in opposition to the defendants’ motion, the plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue of fact as to whether the challenged statements in the flyers were motivated solely by malice … . Galanova v Safir, 2016 NY Slip Op 02617, 2nd Dept 4-6-16

DEFAMATION (E-MAILS CONSTITUTED NONACTIONABLE OPINION AND POSTED FLYERS PROTECTED BY COMMON INTEREST PRIVILEGE)/PRIVILEGE (DEFAMATION, POSTED FLYERS PROTECTED BY COMMON INTEREST PRIVILEGE)/COMMON INTEREST PRIVILEGE (DEFAMATION, POSTED FLYERS PROTECTED BY COMMON INTEREST PRIVILEGE)

You might also like
PLAINTIFF WAS INJURED BY A HAZARD INHERENT IN THE JOB HE WAS HIRED TO DO; HIS LABOR LAW 200 CAUSE OF ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (SECOND DEPT).
DEFENDANT WAS MISNAMED IN THE COMPLAINT BUT WAS TIMELY SERVED; THE AMENDED COMPLAINT WITH THE CORRECT NAME, ALTHOUGH SERVED AFTER THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS HAD RUN, SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISMISSED; THE AMENDED COMPLAINT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DEEMED TIMELY SERVED AND FILED NUNC PRO TUNC (SECOND DEPT).
MOTION TO VACATE AUTOMATIC DISMISSAL OF PLAINTIFFS’ MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ACTION AFTER A 12 YEAR DELAY PROPERLY DENIED (SECOND DEPT).
FATHER, WHO LIVED IN FLORIDA, BROUGHT THIS PARENTAL ACCESS PETITION; FATHER INDICATED HE COULD NOT AFFORD TO TRAVEL TO NEW YORK; HE APPEARED SEVERAL TIMES VIRTUALLY; HE DID NOT APPEAR AT THE LAST COURT DATE, BUT HIS ATTORNEY WAS PRESENT; THE JUDGE SHOULD NOT HAVE DISMISSED THE PETITION AS ABANDONED (SECOND DEPT).
THE QUESTION WHETHER THE MUNICIPALITY TIMELY RECEIVED ACTUAL NOTICE OF THE CLAIM IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE QUESTION WHETHER THERE IS A REASONABLE EXCUSE FOR MISSING THE 90-DAY DEADLINE; HERE THE PETITIONER DID NOT HAVE A REASONABLE EXCUSE BUT THE MUNICIPALITY DID RECEIVE TIMELY ACTUAL NOTICE; LEAVE TO FILE A LATE NOTICE OF CLAIM SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT).
Therapeutic Dog Allowed In Court to Support Alleged Child Victim of Sexual Offenses During Trial Testimony
QUESTIONS OF FACT WHETHER THERE WAS A MEETING OF THE MINDS AND WHETHER WRITINGS, INCLUDING AN EMAIL, SATISFIED THE STATUTE OF FRAUDS.
ALLOWING UBER DRIVERS TO PICK UP PASSENGERS VIA SMARTPHONE APPLICATION IS NOT AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL TAKING OF THE PROPERTY OF TAXI CAB AND LIMOUSINE DRIVERS (SECOND DEPT).

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

ACKNOWLEDGING DEBT IN BANKRUPTCY PLAN RENEWED THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS WHICH... SAME-SEX SPOUSE OF BIOLOGICAL MOTHER HAD STANDING TO SEEK VISITATION WITH CHILDREN...