Manhattan 10021 LLC v. Maloney [1]

Todd Layne Cleaners of Manhattan sued Evan Maloney after he posted flyers near the store and created a gripe site at toddlaynecleanerssucks.com [2]. On the flyers and website, Maloney allegedly stated that the dry cleaner "sucks" and "is overpriced." The complaint, filed in Civil Court of the City of New York, contained defamation and tortious interference claims.  

Maloney moved to dismiss the complaint, and, on October 12, 2007, the trial court dismissed [3] the defamation claim because the alleged statements were "pure opinion." The court did not dismiss the tortious interference claim, however, because of allegations that Maloney had menaced customers near the store. 

Plaintiffs then moved by order to sshow cause for an order (1) transferringf the case to New York Supreme Court, New York County; (2) granting leave to amend the complaint; and (3) for a preliminary injunction prohibiting Maloney from posting or distributing flyers, maintaining or developing a website "making reference to or mentioning plaintiff," and entering or preventing persons from entering the dry cleaner's place of business.

In an order on November 7, 2008, Judge Gische of New York Supreme Court transferred the case to her court.  She rejected the dry cleaner's request for a preliminary injunction with regard to Maloney's distributing flyers and maintaining the website.  Judge Gische held that such an injunction would be an impermissible prior restraint on speech and noted that the Civil Court  had already dismissed the plaintiff's defamation claim.  However, the court granted the dry cleaner's request for a preliminary injunction barring Maloney from entering its place of business or peventing others from doing so.  

In April 2008, the court granted Todd Layne Cleaners request to amend the caption to reflect its true and complete legal name -- Manhattan 10021 LLC.