Coleman v. Grand

• Decision Date: 22 February 2021
• Docket Number: 18-cv-5663 (ENV) (RLM)
• Citation: 523 F.Supp.3d 244
• Parties: Steven Douglas COLEMAN, Plaintiff, v. María Kim GRAND, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York

523 F.Supp.3d 244

Steven Douglas COLEMAN, Plaintiff,

v.María Kim GRAND, Defendant.

18-cv-5663 (ENV) (RLM)

United States District Court, E.D. New York.

Signed February 22, 2021

Filed February 26, 2021

Joyce Cooper, Agee Owens, LLC, McMinnville, TN, Nicholas Evan Lewis, Andrew T. Miltenberg, Nesenoff & Miltenberg, LLP, New York, NY, for Plaintiff.

A. Mackenna White, Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss PLLC, Cara McGourty, Baker & Hostetler LLP, New York, NY, Katherine McKnight, Mark Bailen, Baker Hostetler, Washington, DC, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

VITALIANO, D.J.

On October 10, 2018, plaintiff Steven Douglas Coleman commenced this action against María Kim Grand, bringing a libel claim and requesting damages of at least $500,000 plus attorney's fees. Grand filed counterclaims alleging libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED).¹ The parties have cross-moved for summary judgment on their respective claims. For the reasons that follow, both parties’ libel claims and Grand's IIED claim fail as a matter of law.

Background ²

From 2011 to 2016, Coleman and Grand had what both parties characterize as a rocky, on-and-off sexual relationship. Coleman's libel claim arises from a November 2017 email Grand circulated to around 40 friends and industry colleagues, describing her experiences in the relationship and her feeling that Coleman had used his age and status to harass and take advantage of her. See Am. Compl., Dkt. 22, ¶¶ 51–59; Grand Email, Dkt. 1-3; Grand Letter, Dkt. 1-4. Grand's libel counterclaim centers on, among other communications, an email Coleman sent to around 80 people in May 2018 saying her accusations were false, presenting his side of the story and including explicit text messages between the two. See Ans. to Am. Compl., Dkt. 25, ¶¶ 75–92; Coleman Email, Dkt. 87-3.

Grand, an aspiring young saxophonist, met Coleman, a prominent saxophonist, when she attended a 2009 workshop he gave in New York City. Pl.’s 56.1, Dkt. 82-1, ¶ 1. At this first encounter, Coleman was 52 years old and Grand was 17. Def.’s 56.1, Dkt. 85, ¶ 1. Grand, who was visiting the United States from her home in Switzerland, asked Coleman for a lesson and, after first saying he did not work with beginners, he agreed. Def.’s Mem., Dkt. 86, at 4–5. There is no dispute that they did not then begin a sexual relationship, though each says the other was pursuing one. See, e.g. , Coleman Tr., Dkt. 82-7, at 454:10–13; Grand Tr., Dkt. 82-6, at 33:22–23.

Grand moved to New York City in 2011, at which point she and Coleman did begin a sexual relationship, though they disagree about who initiated it. Grand Tr. at 34:21–35:8; Am. Compl. ¶ 12. The relationship was never exclusive—Coleman was married and saw other women, and Grand also had other relationships. Def.’s 56.1 ¶ 3. Grand would later say she felt pressured to have sex with Coleman in order for him to continue teaching and working with her, and to avoid his anger. Def.’s Mem. at 5; Grand Tr. at 109:17–110:13, 131:4–132:2. At the same time, she said she was in love with him, was "slightly manipulative" and sometimes initiated sex, which "was never physically forced." Def.’s Mem. at 5; Grand Tr. at 112:4–5. Coleman says the relationship was fully consensual, often with Grand pursuing him, and that he helped her gain valuable work experience and an O-1 visa. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 10–17.

They split temporarily in 2013, following an argument Grand says was occasioned by Coleman's wife asking for a divorce. Pl.’s 56.1 ¶ 3; Grand Tr. at 111:10–21. Their relationship resumed in 2014 and continued on and off for the next two years with increasing antagonism, especially when they toured together. Grand Tr. at 85:24–86:16, 134:17–135:16; Coleman Tr. at 254:2–16. They had their final sexual encounter in September 2016. Grand Tr. at 57:17–58:21; Pl.’s 56.1 ¶¶ 5–6. As with much else, they disagree on who initiated it. Grand Tr. at 57:17–58:21, 60:18–25; Pl.’s 56.1 ¶¶ 5–6. In November 2016, Grand told Coleman's manager she no longer wanted to work with Coleman. Pl.’s 56.1 ¶ 7. For the next year, they had little contact. Am. Compl. ¶ 27; Grand Tr. at 62:5–63:15.

In May and October 2017, Grand wrote in emails and texts to Coleman that she intended to speak publicly about her concerns with their relationship, centered on Coleman pursuing her despite the gap in their age and status. Pl.’s 56.1 ¶¶ 8–12. She posted on Facebook in October that, after former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein's arrest for sex crimes, she was glad "skeletons are coming out." Dkt. 1-2. Coleman apparently saw this post, and her other messages, as "threats." Am. Compl. ¶ 31; Pl.’s 56.1 ¶¶ 10–11. Grand, adding fuel to the fire, flat out denies that they were. Ans. to Am. Compl. ¶ 31. Grand also wrote an email to Coleman's estranged wife in November saying she intended to speak publicly. Pl.’s 56.1 ¶ 13.

These communications led up to the November 2017 email and letter at the heart of Coleman's claim. On November 5, 2017, Grand emailed seven friends, asking for help proofreading an open letter on her relationship with Coleman before she shared it more broadly. Pl.’s 56.1 ¶ 17; Dkt. 82-13 at 50. On November 17, Grand sent the finalized seven-page letter to around 40 people, mostly industry colleagues. See Grand Email. It recounted her history with Coleman, but called him "X" because, she said, naming him would be "legally dangerous." Id. Grand said the letter described her "experience with" "sexism in the music industry," motivated by her desire to "start [ ] a larger conversation" on the subject. Id.

The letter Grand sent that lit the fireworks began by stating that she felt conversations on sexism were "long overdue," then detailed what she called an "abusive dynamic" and "sexual harassment" in her relationship with Coleman, focusing on the post-2013 period. Grand Letter at 2. She described various encounters she said disturbed her, such as waking up to find "X" in her hotel bed and having to convince him to leave. But, the letter also acknowledged that she had fallen in love with him and that she was grateful for their time together. Id. at 4, 6, 8. "Simply, the highs were very high and the lows were very low," she wrote. Id. at 4. Then circling back to where she had begun her letter, Grand claimed that, despite her anxiety and reluctance to "say something," she was "speaking out" to create change in the industry. Id. at 7–8.

Among the letter's statements Coleman challenges as defamatory are: "About 6 months after I moved to New York in 2011, he convinced me to be intimate with him"; "By that point [in 2013], though, I wasn't in love with him anymore. I didn't want to be intimate with him anymore. That period is when the sexual harassment started."; and "He would call me in the middle of the night and never take no for an answer." Id. at 4–5; Pl.’s Mem., Dkt. 83, at 10–14.

There appears to be no dispute that, as Coleman alleges, Grand authorized one of the email's recipients, Okkyung Lee, to share the letter with colleagues and journalists and name Coleman in doing so. Pl.’s 56.1 ¶ 19; Def.’s Reply 56.1, Dkt. 94, ¶ 19; Dkt. 82-13 at 14, 20, 24–25, 31. Nor is there a dispute that, on November 27, Grand named Coleman when sending the letter to seven members of the We Have Voice Collective, a group she and other artists launched "to bring awareness to issues of inequity, including but not limited to sexual harassment and bullying" in the performing arts. Pl.’s 56.1 ¶ 18; Dkt. 82-13 at 2–3; Dkt. 87-16. Grand also sent the letter to Coleman's wife, which is again undisputed. Pl.’s 56.1 ¶ 15; Def.’s Reply 56.1, ¶¶ 15. His wife, Coleman says, knew it was about him. Pl.’s 56.1 ¶¶ 15, 22; Def.’s Reply 56.1, ¶¶ 15, 22.

Coleman claims he found out about Grand's email in January 2018. Coleman Tr. at 209:18–24. He testified that he lost band members as a result of it, and experienced embarrassment and lost productivity. Id. at 193:21–194:9, 199:19–204:3; Pl.’s 56.1 ¶¶ 55–57. He alleges that, to cope, he began receiving massages and seeing a psychotherapist. Coleman Tr. at 180:3–181:23. He asserts that he lost work starting in October 2018. Pl.’s 56.1 ¶¶ 58–67; Dkt. 82-12 at 8–28.

Striking back, on May 5, 2018, Coleman emailed a letter of his own to around 80 people—forming the focus of Grand's counterclaims. See Coleman Email; Def.’s 56.1 ¶ 8; Ans. to Am. Compl. ¶¶ 75–76. He selected recipients whom he thought had received Grand's letter, though some had not. Coleman Tr. at 308:4–14, 312:5–12. He addressed the letter to the We Have Voice Collective. Coleman Email at 2. He said he was "writing this letter to categorically denounce [Grand's] accusation as false, and to appeal to you to hear both sides of the story before reflexively rushing to judgment." Id. He said he was doing so now because, the week before, one of the Collective's members had asked Coleman to leave a concert of Grand's, at her request. Id. Like Grand's letter, Coleman's gave his version of the relationship. He said it "was unusual, intense, argumentative, and passionate, but it was also completely consensual and should have been private." Id. He said each pursued the other, and he never threatened Grand or forced her to do anything, "which thoroughly refutes Maria's accusations of sexual harassment." Id. He called her sexually aggressive and manipulative. Id. at 2–3. He included an "addendum" with excerpts of his texts with Grand as "small examples of evidence," some explicitly sexual and others discussing their relationship or making plans. Id. at 4–9. Coleman also made a few statements over the following months on Facebook, in emails and to the media, defending his position and saying Grand's story was false. Ans. to Am. Compl. ¶¶ 77–84.

Coleman filed the instant case on October 10, 2018, making Grand's email and letter available on the Court's public docket. Compl., Dkt. 1. Beginning almost immediately, he lost numerous bookings and a teaching job. Pl.’s 56.1 ¶¶ 58–67; C...