Green v. Combined Life Insurance

69 A.D.3d 531, 892 N.Y.2d 760

• Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
• Decided: January 28, 2010
• Status: Published

Opinion

Plaintiff alleges he was defamed by defendant Downie’s written report to the insurer defendants of his interview with and examination of plaintiff. Even if defamatory, the statements are protected by a qualified privilege because they were made in a medical report to the insurer (see Gould v Broad, 22 AD2d 800 [1964], affd 16 NY2d 666 [1965]). Plaintiffs conclusory allegations of malice are insufficient to overcome the privilege (see Ferguson v Sherman Sq. Realty Corp., 30 AD3d 288 [2006]). Concur—Andrias, J.P., McGuire, Moskowitz, Freedman and Román, JJ.