Pettus v. Board of Directors, Owners 800 Grand Concourse

James Pettus, Plaintiff-Appellant, against Board of Directors, Owners 800 Grand Concourse, Defendant-Respondent. Plaintiff appeals from an order of the Small Claims Part of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Bronx County (Brenda Rivera, J.), entered November 8, 2018, which granted defendant's motion to dismiss the action and enjoined plaintiff from initiating any further litigation without prior approval of the Court. Per Curiam. Order (Brenda Rivera, J.), entered November 8, 2018, affirmed, without costs. This small claims action was properly dismissed on res judicata grounds. The instant action, like the Supreme Court action previously commenced by plaintiff, is based upon the defendant cooperative's determination to withhold a garage key from plaintiff (see Matter of Pettus v Board of Directors, 160 AD3d 551 [2018], appeal dismissed 32 NY3d 1138 [2019]; see also O'Brien v City of Syracuse, 54 NY2d 353, 357 [1981]). That plaintiff now seeks different relief than sought in Supreme Court does not alter this conclusion (see Chapman v Faustin, 150 AD3d 647 [2017]). Under New York's transactional analysis approach to res judicata, "once a claim is brought to a final conclusion, all other claims arising out of the same transaction or series of transactions are barred, even if based upon different theories or if seeking a different remedy" (Matter of Hunter, 4 NY3d 260, 269 [2005], quoting O'Brien v City of Syracuse, 54 NY2d at 357). The portion of the order on appeal barring plaintiff from initiating further litigation without prior court approval was justified in light of plaintiff's repeated abuse of the judicial process and his penchant for vexatious conduct (see Curry v Common Ground Community, H.D.F.C., 146 AD3d 641, 641-642 [2017]; Capogrosso v Kansas, 60 AD3d 522, 523 [2009], cert denied 568 US 884 [2012]), and did not impermissibly infringe upon plaintiff's First Amendment rights (see Riccard v Prudential Ins. Co., 307 F.3d 1277, 1298 [2002]; Providian Natl. Bank v Forrester, 277 AD2d 582, 584 [2000]). THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE COURT. I concur I concur I concur Decision Date: March 22, 2019