Cook v. Relin

—Order affirmed with costs. Memo*898randum: Supreme Court properly granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint in this defamation action on the ground that defendant’s allegedly defamatory statements are constitutionally protected expressions of opinion. In determining whether a reasonable listener would have viewed defendant’s communication as an expression of opinion or a statement of fact, it is necessary to consider “the content of the whole communication, its tone and apparent purpose” (Immuno AG. v Moor-Jankowski, 77 NY2d 235, 254, cert denied 500 US 954; see,…