Opinion
March 26, 1992
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Carol E. Huff, J.).
The proceeding was brought to recover damages for plaintiff's physical and mental suffering allegedly caused by defendant newspaper's publication of a recognizable photograph of plaintiff walking on the grounds of a private psychiatric hospital.
Plaintiff was pictured strolling with a fellow patient whose mental and physical rehabilitation was clearly newsworthy, and the photograph of the two women interacting at the hospital bore a real relationship to the newspaper article. Consequently, no cause of action for violation of privacy under Civil Rights Law §§ 50 and 51 exists. Neither was publication of a recognizable photograph of plaintiff grounds for a claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress (see, Doe v American Broadcasting Cos., 152 A.D.2d 482, 483, appeal dismissed 74 N.Y.2d 945). Accordingly, we modify to dismiss the latter cause of action and the related claim of loss of services to plaintiff's husband.
Concur — Sullivan, J.P., Milonas, Ellerin, Kassal and Smith, JJ.