Opinion
March 18, 1999
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Herman Cahn, J.).
Given the conflicting evidence in the record, the motion court correctly found material issues of fact as to whether plaintiff has standing to maintain this suit, and as to whether defendants' alleged misfeasance was a proximate cause of plaintiff's alleged injuries ( see, Bachmann, Schwartz Abramson v. Advance Intl., 251 A.D.2d 252).
However, plaintiff's demand for punitive damages from Bankers Trust should have been stricken in its entirety. Punitive damages, although available for breach of fiduciary duty, are available only in instances where the fiduciary breach is shown to have entailed an outrageous public wrong ( see, Banque Indosuez v. Barclays Bank, 181 A.D.2d 447). After substantial discovery, "the record is devoid of evidence of malicious or reckless misconduct on the part of" defendant Bankers Trust ( Cres Jewelry Factory v. Good-Land Mgt. Corp., 240 A.D.2d 218). We have considered the remaining arguments of the parties for affirmative relief and find them unavailing.
Concur — Sullivan, J. P., Lerner, Andrias and Saxe, JJ.