Tortious Interference Claim Accrues When Plaintiff First Damaged

On June 4, 2020, the First Department issued a decision in Linkable Networks, Inc. v Mastercard Inc., 2020 NY Slip Op. 03187, holding that a tortious interference claim accrues when the plaintiff is first damaged, explaining:

The statute of limitations for tortious interference with prospective business relations is three years from the date of injury, which is triggered when a plaintiff first sustains damages. Plaintiff alleges that defendants sabotaged its current and prospective customer relationships in 2015. Hence, it should have sued by December 31, 2018. However, it did not sue until April 3, 2019.

Plaintiff relies on its allegation that beginning in or about 2013, and continuing in or about September 2017, it had business relations with numerous current and prospective clients. However, this merely alleges when plaintiff had those business relations, not when it first sustained damages.

(Internal quotations and citations omitted).

It is not unusual for the statute of limitations to be an issue in complex commercial litigation. Contact Schlam Stone & Dolan partner John Lundin at jlundin@schlamstone.com if you or a client have questions regarding whether a claim is barred by the statute of limitations.