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Herman v. Cullen

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Apr 1, 1991
172 A.D.2d 493 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)

Opinion

April 1, 1991

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Doyle, J.).


Ordered that the order is modified, on the law, by deleting the provision thereof which denied the defendant's motion for summary judgment, and substituting therefor a provision granting the defendant's motion and dismissing the complaint; as so modified, the order is affirmed, with costs payable by the plaintiff.

The alleged defamatory words, which formed the basis for this action, were contained in a letter sent to the New York State Department of Health. The defendant sent additional letters to the medical administrators of two hospitals in which the plaintiff had privileges. The plaintiff's contention on appeal is that the caption in each of the letters, which was in bold type and read "Complaint of Professional Misconduct", was defamatory even though the bodies of the letters were admittedly not defamatory.

The plaintiff's contention is without merit. Words must be construed in the context in which they appear (see, First Natl. Bank v. Winters, 225 N.Y. 47). So construed, the words are referrable only to the conduct described in the bodies of the letters which description the plaintiff concedes is not defamatory. Under the circumstances, the defendant's motion for summary judgment should have been granted.

With respect to the defendant's motion for costs and sanctions, there has been no showing that the action was commenced or continued in bad faith. Bracken, J.P., Kunzeman, Kooper and Harwood, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Herman v. Cullen

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Apr 1, 1991
172 A.D.2d 493 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)
Case details for

Herman v. Cullen

Case Details

Full title:TERRI A. HERMAN, Respondent-Appellant, v. JOHN M. CULLEN…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: Apr 1, 1991

Citations

172 A.D.2d 493 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)
567 N.Y.S.2d 846