Firm Wins in the Second Circuit: Summary Judgment Dismissal of Tortious Interference Case Affirmed

December 15, 2022

Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler (HSW) secured a victory in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, defeating an appeal of the summary judgment dismissal of the complaint brought against our client in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Plaintiff alleged our client, a former employee of Thomson Reuters Corporation, tortiously interfered with its business relationship with Thomson.

The case arose out of an initiative at Thomson to improve efficiency and lower its contingent labor costs by reducing its reliance on external vendors. Our client recommended software that would enable Thomson to identify temporary employee candidates from its existing talent pool without relying on third parties, including plaintiff. After a successful pilot program, Thomson approved the direct sourcing initiative and gave it the “green light” to proceed. Plaintiff blamed our client for the loss of its Thomson business relationship, complaining to Thomson that our client had acted inappropriately.

A Thomson internal review found no evidence of wrongdoing — and the court agreed. In its summary order affirming the district court’s judgment, the Second Circuit held that Thomson made an independent business decision to terminate its relationship with plaintiff as part of its strategy to cut contingent labor costs. The court also noted that plaintiff offered only conclusory allegations and that our client’s actions were within the scope of his employment. Thus, our client did not cause Thomson to terminate its business relationship with the plaintiff.

Daniel Grossman led our firm’s work on this case, including the motion for summary judgment and opposition to plaintiff’s appeal. Managing partner Jonathan Harris and partner David Wechsler were also involved in the matter. Mitchell Cohen and Debora Pitman, partners at Wechsler & Cohen LLP who also handled the case before it was transferred to HSW, were integral to the victory.