DiPalma v. Phelan
| Decision Date | 22 December 1992 |
| Citation | 609 N.E.2d 131,593 N.Y.S.2d 778,81 N.Y.2d 754 |
| Parties | , 609 N.E.2d 131 Rebecca DiPALMA, Appellant, v. Gerald D. PHELAN, Individually and as Chief of Police of the Town of Greece, et al., Respondents. |
| Court | New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed, with costs.
Plaintiff commenced this tort action for damages claiming, among other things, that her right to privacy under the Federal Constitution had been violated when, acting under color of law, defendant Phelan, the Town Chief of Police, disclosed the contents of a supporting deposition that she had signed in connection with her allegations that her father, a Town employee, had sexually abused her when she was less than 18 years old (see, 42 USC § 1983). Plaintiff alleged in the present action that she had given the police the information in the supporting deposition only after she was assured that her name and address would not be disclosed to anyone not involved in the criminal investigation. Nonetheless, defendant Phelan had given an unredacted version of the supporting deposition to the Town Board, which had requested the document and reviewed it in executive session in order to assess what disciplinary action, if any, should be taken against plaintiff's father in his capacity as a Town employee.
On this appeal from the Appellate Division order dismissing the remaining cause of action in the complaint, 179 A.D.2d 1009, 578 N.Y.S.2d 948 plaintiff has limited her argument to the contention that the courts below erred in dismissing her claim based on 42 U.S.C. § 1983. In order to state a claim under that statute, the plaintiff must allege, at a minimum, conduct by a person acting under color of law which deprived the injured party of a right, privilege or immunity guaranteed by the Constitution or the laws of the United States (Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527, 535, 101 S.Ct. 1908, 1912, 68 L.Ed.2d 420). That burden was not satisfied in plaintiff's case, since no Federally protected right was clearly established.
Although some lower Federal court decisions have recognized a constitutionally secured privacy right which prohibits government officials from gratuitously...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Brown v. State
...New York, 40 N.Y.2d 966, 390 N.Y.S.2d 819, 359 N.E.2d 329; DiPalma v. Phelan, 179 A.D.2d 1009, 578 N.Y.S.2d 948, affd. 81 N.Y.2d 754, 593 N.Y.S.2d 778, 609 N.E.2d 131; Manti v. New York City Tr. Auth., 165 A.D.2d 373, 568 N.Y.S.2d 16; Clark v. Bond Stores, 41 A.D.2d 620, 340 N.Y.S.2d 847; s......
-
Kosmider v. Garcia
...of a right, privilege or immunity guaranteed by the Constitution or the laws of the United States” (DiPalma v. Phelan, 81 N.Y.2d 754, 756, 593 N.Y.S.2d 778, 609 N.E.2d 131 [1992]; accord. Payne v. County of Sullivan, 12 A.D.3d 807, 808, 784 N.Y.S.2d 251 [2004] ). 2 Accordingly, the first qu......
-
Coleman v. Daines
...of a right, privilege, or immunity guaranteed by the Constitution or the laws of the United States" ( DiPalma v. Phelan, 81 N.Y.2d 754, 756, 593 N.Y.S.2d 778, 609 N.E.2d 131 [1992] ). No such federal right is even argued here. Petitioner alleges only that her right to temporary Medicaid ben......
-
Homier Distributing Co., Inc. v. City of Albany
...[it] of a right, privilege or immunity guaranteed by the [Federal] Constitution or the [Federal] laws" (DiPalma v. Phelan, 81 N.Y.2d 754, 756, 593 N.Y.S.2d 778, 609 N.E.2d 131; See, also, Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527, 535, 101 S.Ct. 1908, 1912, 68 L.Ed.2d 420). That burden was not establ......