Jones v. Mean LLC

2025 NY Slip Op 04392 · Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department · July 25, 2025 · No. 536 CA 24-00515

Summary

This is an unpublished slip opinion from the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department, decided on July 25, 2025. The court unanimously dismissed the appeals filed by defendants-appellants including Alphabet, Inc., Google, LLC, YouTube, LLC, and Reddit, Inc., following the trial court's denial of their motions to dismiss. The ruling relies on the same legal reasoning as the companion case Patterson v Meta Platforms, Inc. Various industry and advocacy groups filed amicus curiae briefs supporting the dismissal.

Court
Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department
Writing for the Court
Lindley, J.P.; Curran; Bannister; Smith; Nowak
Jurisdiction
New York
Decision date
July 25, 2025
Docket number
536 CA 24-00515
Procedural posture
Appeal from order of the Supreme Court, Erie County denying defendants' motions to dismiss.
Precedential value
published
Parties
Mean LLC, et al., Alphabet, Inc., Google, LLC, YouTube, LLC, Reddit, Inc. v. Wayne Jones, individually and as administrator of the estate of Celestine Chaney, Deceased
Disposition
dismissed

Topics

products liabilitymotions to dismisstorts

Practice areas

tortscivil procedurestatutory interpretationcommercial litigation

Questions Presented

  1. Whether the trial court erred in denying the defendants' motions to dismiss the complaint.

Holdings

  1. The appellate division affirmed the trial court's denial of the defendants' motions to dismiss and dismissed the appeals without costs.

Key quotations

It is hereby ORDERED that said appeals are unanimously dismissed without costs.

Factual background

Wayne Jones filed a complaint alleging product liability against Mean LLC and several internet platforms. The defendants moved to dismiss the complaint, and the trial court denied those motions.

Procedural history

The Supreme Court, Erie County entered an order on March 18, 2024 denying the defendants' motions to dismiss the complaint. The defendants appealed that order to the Appellate Division, Fourth Department.

Court Document

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