Opinion
Motion No: M-5253
03-06-2012
In re Estate of Bender - Bender v. Corbett
Reconsideration and/or rescission of all prior orders of this Court denied (M-4053); cross motion granted to the extent of imposing sanctions on objector-appellant Cheryl I. Dier as follows:
Pursuant to 22 NYCRR 130-1.1(a) a court may impose financial sanctions upon a party or an attorney who engages in "frivolous conduct." Under Part 130 of the Rules of this Court, frivolous appellate litigation may be found to exist where the appellate arguments raised are completely without merit in law or fact, where the appeal is undertaken primarily to delay or prolong the litigation or to harass or maliciously injure another, or where the party or attorney asserts material factual statements that are false (§ 130-1.1[c] [additional citations omitted])" (Yenom Corp. v 155 Wooster St., 33 AD3d 67, 70 [2006]). In making the instant motion, Ms. Dier has continued to press the same patently meritless arguments that she has previously made and she has failed to make even a prima facie showing of any reasonable basis for this Court to vacate its prior orders. Ms. Dier has engaged in a course of conduct that is calculated to harass and annoy petitioners. At the same time, she has wasted the time and resources of this Court. As such, her motion is frivolous and meritless within the meaning of 22 NYCRR 130-1.1(c)(1) and constitutes an abuse of the judicial process supporting the imposition of sanctions (see Maroulis v 64th St.-Third Ave. Assocs., 77 NY2d 831 [1991]; Bell v New York Higher Educ. Assistance Corp., 76 NY2d 930 [1990]).
We find that a $1,500.00 fine is sufficient to restrain objector-appellant Cheryl I. Dier from engaging in further frivolous motion practice in connection with this litigation. We reach this conclusion after taking into account the need to deter Ms. Dier from engaging in further frivolous motion practice in connection with this appeal; Ms. Dier's pro se status; and the absence of any evidence as to the actual expense to petitioners in responding to Ms. Dier's motion (see Lichter v State of New York, 198 AD2d 687, 688 [1993]).
Therefore, we hereby impose sanctions upon objector-appellant Cheryl I. Dier for frivolous litigation in the amount of $1,500.00 and direct Ms. Dier to immediately deposit said amount with the Clerk of the Supreme Court, New York County, for transmittal to the State Commissioner of Taxation and Finance (see Nowak v Walden, 187 AD2d 418 [1992]), and it is further ordered that objector-appellant Cheryl I. Dier is hereby prohibited from filing any further motions in this Court with respect to the above said litigation without prior permission of the Clerk of this Court.
Before: Andrias, J.P., Sweeny, Catterson, DeGrasse, JJ.
Motion No. M-5253