Court of Appeals of New York

In a defamation action alleging that the defendants falsely and maliciously stated that the plaintiff had raped and molested the defendants' daughter, the Appellate Division's grant of summary judgment to the defendants is reversed In light of factual discrepancies, where: 1) under the circumstances alleged, a reasonable listener would have understood that the defendants intended to label the plaintiff as a child rapist; and 2) the alleged statements would be actionable even if they were couched in the form of an opinion and even if they were derived from what the defendants' daughter told them.

Appellate Information

• Decided 02/21/2012
• Published 02/21/2012

Judges

• Graffeo

Court

• Court of Appeals of New York

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Mickey A. Steiman, George A. Smith