Obah v. Archdiocese of N.Y.

2025 NY Slip Op 32256(U)

• Court: New York Supreme Court, New York County
• Decided: June 25, 2025
• Docket: Index No. 161122/2023
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

Obah v Archdiocese of N.Y. 2025 NY Slip Op 32256(U) June 25, 2025 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: Index No. 161122/2023 Judge: David B. Cohen Cases posted with a "30000" identifier, i.e., 2013 NY Slip Op 30001(U), are republished from various New York State and local government sources, including the New York State Unified Court System's eCourts Service. This opinion is uncorrected and not selected for official publication. INDEX NO. 161122/2023 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 06/25/2025

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK NEW YORK COUNTY PRESENT: HON. DAVID B. COHEN PART 58 Justice ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X INDEX NO. 161122/2023 PATRICK C. OBAH, 02/08/2024, MOTION DATE 05/09/2025 Plaintiff,

-v- MOTION SEQ. NO. 001 004

ARCHDIOCESE OF NEW YORK, DECISION + ORDER ON Defendant. MOTION

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 001) 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 18, 19, 22, 24, 26, 32, 33 were read on this motion to/for DISMISS .

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 004) 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54 were read on this motion to/for LEAVE TO FILE .

In this defamation action, defendant moves pursuant to CPLR 3211(a)(5) and (7) for an

order dismissing the action against it (seq. 001). Plaintiff opposes.

In motion sequence 004, plaintiff, now self-represented, seeks leave to submit additional

evidence in opposition to defendant’s motion. Defendant opposes.

Pursuant to CPLR 3211(a)(5), a claim may be dismissed if it was asserted past the

applicable statute of limitations. Pursuant to CPLR 3211(7), a party may move for dismissal “on

the ground that the pleading fails to state a cause of action.” Dismissal of a complaint pursuant

to CPLR 3211(a)(7) requires that the pleading be afforded a liberal construction and that the

court accept the facts as alleged in the complaint as true, accord plaintiffs the benefit of every

possible favorable inference, and determine only whether the facts as alleged fit within any

cognizable legal theory” (Leon v Martinez, 84 NY2d 83, 87-88 [1994]; see CSC Holdings, LLC v 161122/2023 OBAH, PATRICK C. vs. ARCHDIOCESE OF NEW YORK Page 1 of 4 Motion No. 001 004

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Samsung Elecs. Am., Inc., 192 AD3d 556 [1st Dept 2021]). “Dismissal of the complaint is

warranted if the plaintiff fails to assert facts in support of an element of the claim, or if the

factual allegations and inferences to be drawn from them do not allow for an enforceable right of

recovery” (Connaughton v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., 29 NY3d 137, 142 [2017] [citations

omitted]).

As set forth in plaintiff’s complaint (NYSCEF 3), the first allegedly defamatory

statement occurred in 2020. However, as the action was not commenced until 2023, it is time-

barred (CPLR 215[3]).

Plaintiff’s allegations related to a statement made in a telephone call in December 2022

fail to state a claim as it is undisputed that the call occurred between plaintiff and one other

person, and it is not alleged that the contents of the call were heard by or conveyed to any other

person (14 NY Prac, New York Law of Torts 1:44 [2023] [defamatory statement must be heard

by third party to be actionable; insufficient if statement only published to defamed person]).

Finally, the statement published in defendant’s monthly magazine in December 2022, in

which defendant advised its readers that plaintiff “does not have faculties to function in the

Archdiocese of New York . . . and is not allowed to function in any capacity as a priest . . .,”

does not give rise to a defamation claim absent any evidence that the statements were not true.

Indeed, plaintiff admits in his complaint that he did not have the required faculties and did not

seek them from defendant (NYSCEF 3, p. 2-3), and he fails to identify which statements in the

article were allegedly false (Birkenfeld v UBS AG, 172 AD3d 566, 566 [1st Dept 2019] [truth

provides complete defense to claim of defamation]).

Moreover, even if defamatory, the article is subject to a qualified common interest

privilege, which applies to communications made by a person with a legitimate interest in

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making or a duty to make the communication, and the communication is sent to a person with a

corresponding interest or duty (14 NY Prac, New York Law of Torts 1:51 [2023]). Here,

defendant demonstrates that it had a legitimate interest in making the statement to members of its

congregation (see e.g., Kamchi v Weissman, 125 AD3d 142 [2d Dept 2014] [qualified privilege

applied to communications carried out in furtherance of common interest of religious

organization]; Sieger v Union of Orthodox Rabbies of U.S. and Canada, Inc., 1 AD3d 180 [1st

Dept 2003], lv denied 3 NY3d 604 [2004] [statements subject to qualified privilege, as they were

made by rabbis in discharge of duty and furtherance of common interest of religious

organization]).

In order to rebut the common interest privilege, plaintiff was required to establish that the

article was false, which, as discussed above, he has not done.

In light of this result, there is no need to consider plaintiff’s motion for leave to, in effect,

submit additional evidence in sur-reply. Moreover, plaintiff was represented by counsel when he

filed the original opposition to the motion, and he does not explain why counsel was unable to

submit the evidence at that time. In any event, a review of the documents reflects that they

would not have changed the outcome here.

Accordingly, it is hereby

ORDERED that motion to dismiss (seq. 001) is granted, and the complaint is dismissed

in its entirety, and the clerk is directed to enter judgment accordingly; and it is further

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ORDERED that plaintiff’s motion for leave to file (seq. 004) is denied.

6/25/2025 DATE DAVID B. COHEN, J.S.C. CHECK ONE: X CASE DISPOSED NON-FINAL DISPOSITION

GRANTED DENIED X GRANTED IN PART OTHER

APPLICATION: SETTLE ORDER SUBMIT ORDER

CHECK IF APPROPRIATE: INCLUDES TRANSFER/REASSIGN FIDUCIARY APPOINTMENT REFERENCE

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