Co-op Shareholder Tenant’s Defamation Claims Against Board Members Dismissed

Co-op shareholder tenant, who was a co-op board member, sued fellow board members claiming that they defamed her in emails claiming that tenant was in arrears. Tenant claimed further defamation by fliers placed in the building lobby which listed her among shareholder tenants in arrears, and by a court petition affixed to her apartment door that had been filed in housing court. The court denied the co-op board members’ request to dismiss the case. They appealed and won. The appeals court found that statements made in the board members’ emails amounted to statements of opinion. And tenant failed to prove that the claims made in the emails were motivated by malicious intent. So those statements were protected by a qualified common-interest privilege. The court petition was protected by absolute privilege, since it pertained to a judicial matter.

Galanova v. Safir: Index No. 27265/10, NYLJ No. 1202754463526 (App. D. 2 Dept.; Eng, PJ, Mastro, Leventhal, Miller, JJ)