Laguerre v Maurice (2020 NY Slip Op 07877) Laguerre v Maurice 2020 NY Slip Op 07877 Decided on December 23, 2020 Appellate Division, Second Department Roman, J., J. Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports. Decided on December 23, 2020 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department CHERYL E. CHAMBERS, J.P. SHERI S. ROMAN SYLVIA O. HINDS-RADIX COLLEEN D. DUFFY, JJ. 2018-11567 (Index No. 518431/2017) [*1]Pierre Delor Laguerre, respondent, vPastor Jean Renald Maurice, et al., appellants. APPEAL by the defendants, in an action, inter alia, to recover damages for defamation per se, from an order of the Supreme Court (Devin P. Cohen, J.), dated June 13, 2018, and entered in Kings County. The order, insofar as appealed from, denied that branch of the defendants' motion which was pursuant to CPLR 3211(a) to dismiss the first cause of action alleging defamation per se. Lester Schwab Katz & Dwyer, LLP, New York, NY (John Sandercock and Steven B. Prystowsky of counsel), for appellants. Maurice Dean Williams, Bronx, NY, for respondent. ROMAN, J. OPINION & ORDER In this action, inter alia, to recover damages for defamation per se, the plaintiff alleges that he was defamed by the pastor of the defendant church when the pastor told members of the congregation that the plaintiff was a homosexual who viewed gay pornography on the church's computer. The Supreme Court, among other things, denied that branch of the defendants' motion which was pursuant to CPLR 3211(a) to dismiss the first cause of action alleging defamation per se. On this appeal by the defendants, we consider, inter alia, whether resolution of the issues raised would necessarily involve an impermissible inquiry into religious doctrine or practice in violation of the First Amendment, and whether the false imputation that a person is a homosexual constitutes defamation per se. For the reasons that follow, we answer both of these questions in the negative. The plaintiff is a former elder in the Gethsemane SDA Church (hereinafter the church). The defendant Pastor Jean Renald Maurice is the pastor in charge of the church, which allegedly is operated by the defendant The Greater New York Corporation of Seventh Day Adventist. In September 2017, the plaintiff commenced this action against the defendants, inter alia, to recover damages for defamation per se. As set forth in the complaint, Pastor Maurice stated before approximately 300 members of the church that "the [p]laintiff was a homosexual," and that "the [p]laintiff disrespected the church by viewing gay pornography on the church's computer." The complaint alleged that these statements constituted defamation per se, inasmuch as they falsely portrayed the plaintiff "as a homosexual man with no self-control who uses the church's computer to view gay porn." The complaint further alleged that Pastor Maurice used these statements to influence the church to vote to relieve the plaintiff of his responsibilities at the church ...
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