Vickery v. Village of Saugerties

How later courts describe this case

• holding that violation of confidentiality provisions of New York’s Domestic Relations Law by publication of information contained in court papers in a divorce action was not capable of sustaining an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim
• dismissing claim for prima facie tort where plaintiff failed to state a conventional tort claim
• publishing the contents of confidential divorce records was not extreme and outrageous conduct
• referring to the statutory fair report privilege as an affirmative defense
• section 51 “grant[s] protection only to the extent of affording a remedy for commercial exploitation of an individual’s name, portrait or picture, without written consent”
• lawyer properly sanctioned for bringing frivolous emotional distress claim because claim premised on destruction of personal property
• "[W]here a traditional tort remedy exists, a party will not be foreclosed from pleading, as alternative relief, a cause of action for prima facie tort.”
• “A critical element of the cause of action is that plaintiff suffered specific and measurable loss, which requires an allegation of special damages.”