KEANE & BEANE WINS DISMISSAL OF TORTIOUS INTERFERENCE LAWSUIT

In a lawsuit seeking $1,000,000 in damages against the Greenville Fire District and each of its Commissioners, both in their official capacities and individually, Keane & Beane Member Jennifer L. Gray successfully secured the dismissal of the Complaint as an impermissible SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit against Public Participation) suit under the NYS Civil Rights Law. SLAPP suits are not permitted in New York State because of the chilling effect they can have on public participation in land use applications and other matters of public interest. The Court, by Decision of the Honorable Charles D. Wood, J.S.C., agreed that the tortious interference claim asserted by Formation-Shelbourne Senior Living Services, LLC against the Greenville Fire District, based on the fire district’s opposition to the location of a proposed development within its jurisdiction, is a “classic SLAPP suit.” The Court dismissed the Complaint in its entirety with an award of costs and attorney’s fees to the fire district.