Cases and Deals
Case

Blank Rome Secures Client Victory in Patton v. Egan

On December 11, 2014, a unanimous jury in federal court in Manhattan rendered verdicts in favor of the plaintiffs and third-party defendant, in Patton v. Egan. Patton sued Egan for libel and the jury found Egan had defamed Patton. Furthermore, the jury found that Egan had acted with malice and additionally awarded nominal punitive damages.

Stephen E. Tisman and Valerie D. Ringel of Blank Rome LLP and Kenneth Katz of Katz Melinger PLLC represented plaintiffs Telomerase Activation Sciences, Inc. (“TA Sciences”), the manufacturer of TA-65, an anti-aging dietary supplement; Noel Thomas Patton, the owner and CEO of TA Sciences; and Weimin Liu, TA Sciences’ former Vice President of Operations.  

The jury found in favor of TA Sciences, Patton, and Liu and against Brian Egan, on all claims. Egan, a former employee of TA Sciences, was fired in 2011 for poor performance after only four months of employment.

The jury rejected Egan’s claims of defamation against Patton, Liu, and TA Sciences, and found in favor of TA Sciences and Patton, rejecting Egan’s claim of disability discrimination under the New York State and New York City Human Rights Laws, under which he sought back and front pay of approximately $2 million. By defeating the discrimination claim, Egan lost the ability to seek attorneys’ fees. In addition, Patton and TA Sciences were awarded nominal compensatory and punitive damages on their defamation claims against Egan, upon express findings of malice on the part of Egan.