A Manhattan judge has thrown out a lawsuit brought against Tony Award-winning producer Dede Harris, which had alleged that her sexually inappropriate behavior caused an off-Broadway play to fail.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Herman Cahn also sanctioned both a principal of Martian Entertainment, attorney Peter R. Stern, and the company's counsel, solo practitioner Andrew Schwab, $5,000 each. Stern is of counsel to McLaughlin & Stern.
Justice Cahn found that the suit was "plainly devoid of merit and undertaken as a vindictive campaign to harass" Harris.
"Plaintiff's counsel was given the opportunity to withdraw the claims, and did not do so," Cahn wrote in Martian Entertainment v. Harris, 600384/06. "His obligation as an officer of the court is to avoid commencing and pursuing frivolous and vexatious litigation."
The underlying dispute involved the closing of the off-Broadway play "Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead," which Martian Entertainment and Harris' company Dede Harris Productions co-produced and co-marketed.