From Liu v. Augustine Fellowship SLAA Felowship-Wide Services Inc., decided July 11 by N.Y. trial court judge Judy Kim:
The gravamen of plaintiff's complaint is that in March 2024 her former romantic partner began attending "sex and/or love addiction" meetings organized by defendant Greater NY Intergroup, Inc. … and reading publications by defendant The Augustine Fellowship SLAA Fellowship-Wide Services Inc … promoting "no contact" recovery from sex addiction. Three months later, plaintiff's former partner told her that he had "sex and/or love addiction," for which she was a trigger, and that other Intergroup members and the Augustine Fellowship's literature recommended that he go "no contact"—i.e., cut off all communication with her. He then cut off all interaction with her.
Plaintiff asserts, in the course of her 126-page complaint, that the Augustine Fellowship's publications are deceptive because they "present[] unrecognized psychological concepts as real medical diseases, promote[] recovery and self-diagnosis without scientific substantiation, redefine[] recognized medical terminology, and promote[] "No Contact" without disclosing foreseeable risks." Plaintiff further alleges that she experienced severe emotional distress as a result of her former partner's actions, and sought psychotherapy and psychiatric treatment, at which time she was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder….
No dice, the court held. First, the action "fundamentally, seeks to recover for the alienation of plaintiff's former partner's affections—the root of plaintiff's asserted emotional distress is her former partner's decision to exclude her from his life," and the New York Legislature had abolished alienation of affections actions.
