| Dome Prop. Mgt., Inc. v Barbaria |
| 2008 NY Slip Op 00644 [47 AD3d 870] |
| January 29, 2008 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
| Dome Property Management, Inc., Respondent, v BarbaraBarbaria et al., Appellants. |
—[*1] Kagan Lubic Lepper Lewis Gold & Colbert, LLP, New York, N.Y. (Joseph G. Colbert andErik Raines of counsel), for respondent.
In an action to recover damages for tortious interference with contract, the defendant T.W.Finnerty Property Management, Inc., appeals from so much of an order of the Supreme Court,Richmond County (Minardo, J.), dated April 10, 2006, as denied those branches of its motionwhich were pursuant to CPLR 3211 (a) (7) to dismiss the complaint insofar as asserted against itor, in the alternative, for summary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted againstit, and the defendants Barbara Barbaria, Jeffrey Daurio, James Wilson, Joseph Russiello, andMarilyn Alexander separately appeal from the same order.
Ordered that the appeal by the defendants Barbara Barbaria, Jeffrey Daurio, James Wilson,Joseph Russiello, and Marilyn Alexander is dismissed as abandoned (see 22 NYCRR670.8 [c], [e]); and it is further,
Ordered that the order is reversed insofar as appealed from by the defendant T.W. FinnertyProperty Management, Inc., on the law, and that branch of the motion of the defendant T.W.Finnerty Property Management, Inc., which was for summary judgment dismissing the complaintinsofar as asserted against it is granted and the branch of the motion which was pursuant toCPLR 3211 (a) (7) is denied as academic; and it is further,
Ordered that one bill of costs is awarded to the defendant T.W. Finnerty Property [*2]Management, Inc., payable by the plaintiff.
In order to succeed on a cause of action to recover damages for tortious interference withcontract, the plaintiff must establish, inter alia, the existence of a valid contract between it and athird party, and that the defendant intentionally procured the third party's breach of that contractwithout justification (see Lama Holding Co. v Smith Barney, 88 NY2d 413, 424 [1996];Beecher v Feldstein, 8 AD3d597, 598 [2004]). Here, the defendant T.W. Finnerty Property Management, Inc. (hereinafterFinnerty), made a prima facie showing of its entitlement to judgment as a matter of law (seeAlvarez v Prospect Hosp., 68 NY2d 320, 324 [1986]), by demonstrating that it did notintentionally procure a breach of the subject contract (see Schuckman Realty vCosentino, 294 AD2d 484, 484-485 [2002]). Since, in opposition, the plaintiff failed to raisea triable issue of fact (see Alvarez v Prospect Hosp., 68 NY2d at 324), the SupremeCourt should have granted that branch of Finnerty's motion which was for summary judgmentdismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against it (see Spencer v Green, 42 AD3d 521, 523 [2007]; Whitman Realty Group, Inc. v Galano,41 AD3d 590, 593 [2007]; ALDHolding Corp. v F & O Port Corp., 15 AD3d 508, 509 [2005]). Mastro, J.P., Dillon,Covello and Angiolillo, JJ., concur.