LESER v. PENIDO (2009)

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, New York.

Jean Walton LESER, doing business as The Luxury Portal, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Luz PENIDO, also known as Karen Kooper, et al., Defendants-Appellants.

Decided: May 14, 2009

MAZZARELLI, J.P., SAXE, NARDELLI, RENWICK, FREEDMAN, JJ.

Richard A. Altman, New York, for appellants. Victoria M. Brown, New York, for respondent.

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Barbara R. Kapnick, J.), entered July 23, 2008, which, inter alia, denied defendants' motion to dismiss the cause of action for libel per se, unanimously affirmed, with costs.

Plaintiff sufficiently stated a cause of action for libel per se based upon defendants' alleged postings on the internet, attributed to plaintiff, which plaintiff asserts damaged her business of selling luxury handbags online (see Rall v. Hellman, 284 A.D.2d 113, 726 N.Y.S.2d 629 [2001] ). Furthermore, the pornographic pictures and statements linked to plaintiff's name and photograph on various websites “allegedly falsely imply[ ] that [s]he is sexually lustful and promiscuous” (Rejent v. Liberation Publs., 197 A.D.2d 240, 243, 611 N.Y.S.2d 866 [1994]; compare Bement v. N.Y.P. Holdings, 307 A.D.2d 86, 92, 760 N.Y.S.2d 133 [2003], lv. denied 100 N.Y.2d 510, 766 N.Y.S.2d 164, 798 N.E.2d 348 [2003] ).

We have considered defendants' remaining arguments and find them unavailing.

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