Opinion
June 18, 1991
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (C. Beauchamp Ciparick, J.).
Plaintiff, against whom defendant obtained a default judgment for $9,470.53 in charges billed to her American Express card, brings this class action on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated, who, it is alleged, had default judgments entered against them on the basis of so-called "sewer service" and false affidavits of non-military service.
In dismissing the first cause of action for abuse of process, the IAS court concluded that plaintiff failed to allege any facts sufficient to demonstrate that defendant acted with intent to cause harm without excuse or justification and found that, albeit defective, the use of process here was not improper or perverted, inasmuch as the action was to collect an apparently valid debt.
However, construing the complaint liberally and accepting plaintiff's allegations as true at this stage, as we must, the allegations of a large scale pattern of "sewer service" are sufficient, if proven, to establish a cause of action for abuse of process.
We have considered plaintiff's other contentions and find them without merit.
Concur — Carro, J.P., Milonas, Wallach and Kupferman, JJ.