First Department dismisses high-profile SLAPP suit

A few years ago, New York amended its law prohibiting strategic lawsuits against public participation. These are known as SLAPP suits, filed against people who publicly disparage or criticize individuals in a public form. This lawsuit was filed by a wealthy businessman against a woman who publicly accused him of sexual abuse. The First Department says this is a SLAPP suit prohibited under New York law, and the case is dismissed.

The case is Black v. Gunieva, issued on March 6. In the interests of full disclosure, I represent Ganieva in a separate action against Black seeking to nullify a release that barred her from suing Black for sex abuse and defamation. That case was dismissed and the First Department affirmed that dismissal over a strong dissent. Gunieva is now trying to certify that case for review by the New York Court of Appeals. That lawsuit is the reason Black is suing Ganieva for malicious prosecution.

State Supreme Court summarizes the facts of the SLAPP suit this way:

In sum, plaintiff and Ganieva had a years-long intimate relationship, which ended with Ganieva’s signing of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) in exchange for the sum of at least $9.5 million. In 2021, after years of silence, Ganieva spoke publicly about her relationship with plaintiff, thereby violating the NDA and causing plaintiff to cease making payments to her thereunder. In response, Ganieva sued plaintiff, with Wigdor as her legal counsel and the law firm that filed the lawsuit.

I would note that, apart from the "intimate relationship," Ganieva asserts the relationship was abusive. After Ganieva sued Black (the case in which I am involved), Black filed this malicious prosecution lawsuit, claiming Ganieva's lawsuit was meritless and barred by the NDA and was intended solely to harass Black. State Supreme Court allowed this lawsuit to proceed, but the First Department holds that Black's lawsuit is a SLAPP suit. "The claim, rooted in allegations involving defendants’ commencement and prosecution of a legal action, is a claim based upon communications made in a public forum and conduct in furtherance of the exercise of the constitutional rights of free speech and petition." The recently-amended SLAPP law is Civil Rights Law sec. 76-a. (Previously, the SLAPP law had little teeth).

Relatedly, under the SLAPP statute (see CPLR 3211(g)(1), the malicious prosecution claim is properly dismissed because he has failed to show the case has a "substantial basis," which means “'such relevant proof as a reasonable mind may accept as adequate to support a conclusion or ultimate fact', which is the same 'substantial evidence' standard that 'has been equated with the ordinary summary judgment standard,' and it requires the submission of evidence such as an affidavit rather than reliance on the mere allegations in the complaint." Since Black did not submit evidence showing that his claim against Gunieva had merit, he cannot show his case has a "substantial basis."