Pitcock v. Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP

• Citation: 74 A.D.3d 613,903 N.Y.S.2d 43
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
• Decision Date: 17 June 2010
• Parties: Jeremy S. PITCOCK, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. KASOWITZ, BENSON, TORRES & FRIEDMAN LLP, et al., Defendants-Respondents, Sitrick and Company, Defendant. Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Jeremy S. Pitcock, Defendant-Respondent.

903 N.Y.S.2d 43
74 A.D.3d 613

Jeremy S. PITCOCK, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
KASOWITZ, BENSON, TORRES & FRIEDMAN LLP, et al., Defendants-Respondents,
Sitrick and Company, Defendant.
Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
Jeremy S. Pitcock, Defendant-Respondent.

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

June 17, 2010.

903 N.Y.S.2d 44

Balestriere Fariello, New York (John G. Balestriere of counsel), for appellant/respondent.

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, New York (Gandolfo V. DiBlasi of counsel), for respondents/appellant.

TOM, J.P., FRIEDMAN, McGUIRE, ACOSTA, ROMÁN, JJ.

74 A.D.3d 613

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Martin Shulman, J.), entered October 1, 2009, insofar as it granted the motion by defendants Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP (KBTF) and Eric Wallach in the first action to dismiss plaintiff-former partner's (the Partner) causes of action alleging defamation, tortious interference with business relations, injurious falsehood

74 A.D.3d 614

and unjust enrichment, and which also granted the Partner's motion to dismiss KBTF's complaint in the second action, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

Order, same court and Justice, entered February 25, 2010, which granted the Partner's motion to reargue the dismissal of the above-stated four causes of action and, upon reargument, adhered to its original determination, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

The Partner alleged in the first action, inter alia, that his former employer, KBTF, defamed him personally, as well as his business reputation, by KBTF's issuance of a press release stating that he had been "terminated for cause," "... because of extremely inappropriate personal conduct," and through a subsequent statement by a KBTF partner that the termination had occurred after a "thorough" and "weeklong" investigation by KBTF. The press release and statement were made after a certain publication reported that the Partner had joined his new firm "after jumping ship" from KBTF, taking with him certain important clients, and that the new firm had "nab[bed]" him. When the trade publication did not issue what KBTF

903 N.Y.S.2d 45

regarded as a sufficient correction, KBTF published the allegedly defamatory statements quoted above.

The IAS court correctly dismissed the Partner's defamation claims upon finding that the Partner's pleading, and a December 2007 e-mail which he had sent to a senior partner at KBTF, effectively admitted that he was terminated for cause...