Legal Opinion
Yonaty v. Mincolla
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
Decided May 31, 2012PublishedCited by 4 opinions
1Opinion of the Court
OPINION OF THE COURT
Mercure, J.P
This appeal presents the issue of whether statements falsely describing a person as lesbian, gay or bisexual constitute slander per se. Given this state’s well-defined public policy of protection and respect for the civil rights of people who are lesbian, gay or bisexual, we now overrule our prior case to the contrary and hold that such statements are not defamatory per se.
After a nonparty allegedly told defendant that plaintiff was gay or bisexual, defendant relayed that information to third-party defendant, a close family friend of plaintiff’s long-time…
2Cases cited27 opinions
- Lawrence v. TexasSupreme Court of the United States · 2003
- Howell v. New York Post Co.New York Court of Appeals · 1993
- Liberman v. GelsteinNew York Court of Appeals · 1992
- James v. Gannett Co.New York Court of Appeals · 1976
- Mencher v. ChesleyNew York Court of Appeals · 1947
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3Cited by4 opinions
- Cain v. EsthetiqueDistrict Court, S.D. New York · 2016
- Laguerre v. MauriceAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 2020
- Davis v. Fred's Appliance, Inc.Court of Appeals of Washington · 2012
- Jamiel v. Maison Kayser@USA.comDistrict Court, S.D. New York · 2020