Kartiganer Associates, P. C. v. Wehran Engineering, P. C.

92 A.D.2d 911, 460 N.Y.S.2d 124, 1983 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 17313

Opinion

— In a libel action, plaintiff appeals from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Orange County (Ferraro, J.), dated May 25, 1982, which, inter alla, dismissed its complaint as against defendants Wehran Engineering, P. C., and William J. Stein. Judgment affirmed, with costs. As a defense to plaintiff’s action for libel, the respondents asserted that plaintiff was collaterally estopped to deny that it was negligent in the design of a sewage treatment plant. The thrust of the allegedly libelous publication was that the treatment plant suffers from certain limitations caused by plaintiff’s negligent design of the plant. Plaintiff had a full and fair opportunity to litigate that issue in a prior lawsuit brought against it by the municipality which contracted with plaintiff to perform design work on the plant (see Schwartz v Public Administrator of County of Bronx, 24 NY2d 65, 71). There is a sufficient identity of issues between the current action and the prior one for the invocation of the doctrine of collateral estoppel (see Capital Tel. Co. v Patter sonville Tel. Co., 56 NY2d 11, 17-18; Hunt v OSR Chems., 85 AD2d 681, 682-683). Mollen, P. J., Lazer, Weinstein and Rubin, JJ., concur.