Court of Appeals of New York

Summary judgment to defendant-newspaper on plaintiff's defamation claims arising out of articles published concerning a federal investigation, related lawsuits and a guilty plea in federal court by National Air Cargo (NAC), an air freight forwarder, to settle allegations that it had overcharged the federal government on military freight contracts in the continental United States is affirmed, where: 1) viewing the articles as a whole, the average reader would conclude that the company, and not plaintiff, the owner of NAC, pleaded guilty to wrongdoing and that the amount of restitution covered more than the single, admitted incident; and thus, 2) all the challenged statements relating to these proceedings are entitled to immunity under Civil Rights Law section 74, as the publication of a fair and true report of any judicial proceeding.

Appellate Information

• Decided 06/27/2013
• Published 06/27/2013

Judges

Court

• Court of Appeals of New York

Counsel