Summary
holding invalid notice of claim which merely provided that "on January 26, 1981, the claimant was defamed by employees of the Health and Hospitals Corporation, Bellevue Hospital and the City of New York at Bellevue Hospital by accusing claimant of alcoholism and being drunk."
Summary of this case from Silverman v. City of New YorkOpinion
Decided June 10, 1986
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County, David H. Edwards, Jr., J.
John G. Lipsett for appellant.
Frederick A.O. Schwarz, Jr., Corporation Counsel (Barry P. Schwartz of counsel), for respondents.
MEMORANDUM.
The judgment appealed from and the order of the Appellate Division brought up for review should be affirmed, with costs.
We agree with the Appellate Division that the first and second causes of action for defamation should have been dismissed as against the Health and Hospitals Corporation for plaintiff's failure to serve a proper notice of claim (see, Davidson v Bronx Mun. Hosp., 64 N.Y.2d 59, 62), and as against the individual defendants for failure to raise a triable issue of fact with respect to malice or abuse of defendants' qualified privilege (see, Loughry v Lincoln First Bank, 67 N.Y.2d 369, 375-376; Dano v Royal Globe Ins. Co., 59 N.Y.2d 827, 829). Likewise, the third cause of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress was properly dismissed against all defendants inasmuch as plaintiff failed to allege sufficiently extreme and outrageous conduct (see, Freihofer v Hearst Corp., 65 N.Y.2d 135, 143).
Chief Judge WACHTLER and Judges MEYER, SIMONS, KAYE, ALEXANDER, TITONE and HANCOCK, JR., concur.
On review of submissions pursuant to section 500.4 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals (22 N.Y.CRR 500.4), judgment appealed from and order of the Appellate Division brought up for review affirmed, with costs, in a memorandum.