DiFolco v. MSNBC Cable L.L.C., No. 09-2821
Breach of Contract Action by Ex-MSNBC Anchor
In DiFolco v. MSNBC Cable L.L.C., No. 09-2821, an action for breach of contract (and related New York Labor Law violations), defamation, and tortious interference with prospective business relations, based on the termination of plaintiff's employment by defendant as an entertainment reporter, correspondent, and anchor, the court affirmed in part the dismissal of the complaint where the complaint failed entirely to describe any third party with whom plaintiff had prospective business relations to be interfered with. However, the court vacated in part where 1) the district court improperly considered an e-mail not incorporated into the complaint; and 2) plaintiff was entitled to show that the "negative characterization" presented on the website "is coupled with a clear but false implication that the author is privy to facts about the person that are unknown to the general reader."
As the court wrote: "Plaintiff-appellant Claudia DiFolco ("DiFolco") appeals from so much of an order entered on March 30, 2007, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Preska, Ch. J.), as dismissed, for failure to state a claim pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), her causes of action for breach of contract (and related New York Labor Law violations), defamation, and tortious interference with prospective business relations. The causes of action pleaded arose out of DiFolco's employment by defendant-appellee MSNBC L.L.C. ("MSNBC") as an entertainment reporter, correspondent, and anchor. Defendant appellee Rick Kaplan ("Kaplan") was President of MSNBC and defendant-appellee Scott Leon ("Leon") was an Executive Producer at MSNBC."
Related Resources
- Read the Second Circuit's Decision in DiFolco v. MSNBC Cable L.L.C., No. 09-2821