Firth v. State Of New Yor

775 N.E.2d 463 (N.Y. 2002)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

George Firth (P) was formerly employed by the Department of Environmental Conservation as Director of the Division of Law Enforcement. His responsibilities included weapons acquisition. At a press conference held on December 16, 1996, the Office of the State Inspector General issued a report entitled 'The Best Bang for Their Buck,' which was critical of P's managerial style and procurement of weapons. On the same day, the State Education Department posted an executive summary with links to the full text of the report on its Government Locator Internet site. On March 18, 1998, more than one year after the report was first released and posted on the Internet, P filed a claim against the State alleging that the report defamed him. The State moved to dismiss on the ground that the claim was time-barred under the one-year statute of limitations for defamation. The Court of Claims granted summary judgment to D, rejecting P's argument that the ongoing availability of the report via the Internet constituted a continuing wrong or new publication. The court concluded that the statute of limitations began to run on December 16, 1996, when the report was first made available on the Internet. The Appellate Division affirmed; The single publication rule applied and that the claim was not timely filed.