Eian Weiner (Associate-White Plains, NY) successfully secured dismissal of all claims in a lawsuit involving allegations of excessive force and constitutional violations by private security personnel employed by a firm client. The plaintiff alleged that, while visiting a public services office, he was approached and assaulted by aggressive security guards following a dispute over a pocketknife he had voluntarily surrendered and accusations that he was smoking marijuana on the premises. He claimed that the guards became aggressive and physically restrained him, causing injuries, and further alleged that his constitutional rights were violated under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Additional claims were asserted for false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious abuse of process, defamation, and negligence. Eian moved to dismiss the complaint under CPLR 3211, arguing that the tort claims were time-barred under the applicable one-year statute of limitations, that the constitutional claims failed as a matter of law because the private security personnel were not state actors, and that the negligence claim was improper as it was predicated on conduct alleged to be intentional. The Supreme Court, Suffolk County, granted the motion in full, holding that the tort claims were untimely, the § 1983 claims failed as a matter of law, and the negligence and defamation claims were legally and factually unsupported. After also granting the county defendants' motion, the court dismissed the case in its entirety.