Lewis v Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht LLP
2021 NY Slip Op 06807 [200 AD3d 462]
December 7, 2021
Appellate Division, First Department
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
As corrected through Wednesday, February 2, 2022


[*1]
 Donald Lewis, Appellant,
v
Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht LLP et al., Defendants, and Putney, Twombly, Hall & Hirson LLP et al., Respondents.

The Law Offices of Neal Brickman, P.C., New York (Neal Brickman of counsel), for appellant.

Rivkin Radler LLP, Uniondale (Evan H. Krinick of counsel), for respondents.

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Andrea Masley, J.), entered July 15, 2020, dismissing the action as against defendants Putney, Twombly, Hall & Hirson LLP and Michael Yim, unanimously affirmed, without costs. Appeal from order, same court and Justice, entered May 20, 2020, unanimously dismissed, without costs, as subsumed in the appeal from the judgment.

Plaintiff's claims against defendants Putney, Twombly, Hall & Hirson LLP and Michael Yim (collectively Putney) arise out of Putney's work leading defendant Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht LLP's internal investigation into sexual misconduct allegations made against plaintiff by a colleague. The motion court properly determined that the complaint failed to set forth nonconclusory allegations of fraud, collusion, and malicious acts sufficient to support plaintiff's claims against Putney (see Estate of Schneider v Finmann, 15 NY3d 306, 308-309 [2010]; Halevi v Fisher, 81 AD3d 504, 505 [1st Dept 2011], lv denied 16 NY3d 711 [2011]; Benzemann v Citibank N.A., 149 AD3d 586 [1st Dept 2017], appeals dismissed 33 NY3d 973 [2019]; Pursuit Inv. Mgt. LLC v Alpha Beta Capital Partners, L.P., 127 AD3d 580 [1st Dept 2015]). Concur—Acosta, P.J., Gische, Webber, Friedman, Kennedy, JJ. [Prior Case History: 2020 NY Slip Op 31316(U).]