Evoqua Water Technologies LLC v. Matthew Moriarty

Syllabus

The defendant, Matthew Moriarty (defendant), appealed from a Superior Court order and judgment dismissing his amended counterclaim which sought declaratory relief and tort damages against Evoqua Water Technologies LLC and Neptune-Benson, LLC (Evoqua and Neptune-Benson, together, plaintiffs). The trial justice granted the plaintiffs' motion to dismiss all but one counterclaim on the basis of the litigation privilege; the remaining count was dismissed by stipulation of the parties. The Supreme Court held that the litigation privilege applied to six of the counts in the amended counterclaim because they arose from testimony given by a witness at a prior preliminary injunction hearing, and therefore upheld their dismissal on that ground. The Court further held that the remaining two counterclaims could be dismissed on other grounds. The first was dismissed as moot because it was based on the terms of an expired contract; and the second was dismissed because it asserted a cause of action that is not recognized in the state and, even if it were fashioned as an appropriate cause of action, failed to state a claim on which relief could be granted. Accordingly, the Supreme Court affirmed the order and judgment of the Superior Court.