Displeased with the litter they caused, Martin Gittelman took matters into his own hands and removed every copy of the Learning Annex 's catalogues from a distribution box and threw them into the garbage.
In response, the company filed suit against Gittelman alleging " tortious interference with prospective business relations ," " conversion ," and "prima facie tort."
When the New York County Supreme Court dismissed the Learning Annex 's case, an appeal to the Appellate Division, First Department, ensued.
According to the AD1, since the company was unable to identify any specific customers it would have obtained but for Gittelman's actions, the claim for " tortious interference with prospective business relations " was found to be without merit.
Moreover, since they were free for the taking, a " conversion " or "theft" claim failed because the company couldn't demonstrate a "superior possessory right to the catalogues."
(We're not sure we get that. Didn't the Learning Annex "own" the printed materials? After all, it paid for them. And we doubt the company intended for its property to be discarded.)
Finally, because it was unable to establish that Gittelman was motivated solely by "disinterested malevolence," or that it had sustained special damages, the Learning Annex 's "prima facie tort claim" was also unmaintainable.
It seems that, even for the Learning Annex , some lessons can only be learned the hard way.
To download a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: Learning Annex Holdings, LLC v. Gittelman