Landlord's Unflattering Description of Tenant Wasn't Defamation or Harassment

Tenant sued landlord for defamation, harassment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress after landlord sent a letter to tenant’s friends and relatives concerning tenant’s dispute with landlord over a claim to a third parking space at the building. The letter described tenant as “quixotic,” “self-absorbed,” “narcissistic,” “ungrateful,” “delusional,” and a “paranoid pompous ass.” The court dismissed tenant’s claim for failing to state a cause of action. Tenant appealed and lost. The appeals court found that landlord’s statements weren’t defamatory per se, that they were opinions rather than statements of fact, and that they weren’t extreme and outrageous. The statements didn’t say that tenant had committed a serious crime or suffered from a loathsome disease and wouldn’t tend to injure tenant in his trade, business, or profession. The court also noted that New York doesn’t recognize a common-law cause of action for harassment. 

Scialdone v. DeRosa: 2017 NY Slip Op 01582, 2017 WL 776560 (App. Div. 2 Dept.; 3/1/17; Balkin, JP, Hall, LaSalle, Barros, JJ)