[1.] From New York trial court judge Dakota Ramseur's opinion in Duncan v. Dick Blick Holdings, Inc., decided Jan. 21 but just posted on Westlaw (for more on the trans dimension, see item 4 below):
In July 2023, plaintiff Dustin Duncan commenced this defamation action against defendants Dick Blick Holdings, Inc. …, and Sawyer Allen, a/k/a Sawyer Quinn … related to various social media posts Allen made while employed by Blick that accused plaintiff of stalking and harassing him….
According to his first amended complaint, plaintiff is a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University whose fields of research focus on the intersectionality of health equity and black gay, bisexual, and other marginalized communities. In April 2023, he visited Harlem Dick Blick Store, a local art supplier near his campus, and placed an order to have certain works of art framed. Plaintiff first met Allen, an employee of Harlem Blick, while placing this order. During their interaction, Allen requested plaintiff's Instagram handle, which he provided, and both communicated with each other through the app for a period of a few weeks.
On or around June 9, 2023, plaintiff returned to the Harlem Dick Blick to pick up the framed artwork, at which time a manager approached him and stated that he would not be able to have additional artwork framed at their store. The manager explained, in front of other customers, that an unnamed employee had made accusations that he had been harassing or stalking them and that he would not be permitted to visit the store as pretext to engage in further harassment. Thereafter, on June 23, 2023, Allen posted the accusations of harassment to his Instagram account next to plaintiff's professional Columbia University photograph. The post's caption reads:
