Sally Dinerman bought $10,000 worth of stock in a company that had been promoted by Sonny Bloch, a former radio talk-show host. When she finally realized her investment was worthless, Dinerman sued the radio station for fraud and sought to recover the cost of her investment.
After the Kings County Civil Court dismissed her case because she had missed the governing "window period"--or "statute of limitations"--she appealed to the Appellate Term, Second Department.
The mere fact that Dinerman didn't know about the fraud wasn't enough to excuse her inaction. She was required to sue within two years of the date she should have discovered the misconduct--by way of "reasonable diligence."
Apparently, Dinerman acquired the stock in 1994, and failed to track the progress of her purchase for some 14 years. She also claimed to be unaware of the extensive media coverage which accompanied the investment scandal, the cancellation of Bloch's show, his trial, and his death in July of 1998.
Since hundreds of other defrauded investors sued Bloch back in 1994, the AT2 allowed the dismissal to stand because it believed a "person of ordinary intelligence" would have acted sooner.
Think Dinerman took stock in that?
To view a copy of the Appellate Term's decision, please use this link: Dinerman v. Wor Radio Attention