Concerted Action as a Cause of Action in New York

In some legal situations, more than one person or business may work together to cause harm. When that happens, New York law recognizes a type of claim called concerted action. This allows a person who was harmed to hold all of the wrongdoers responsible—not just the one who carried out the final act. But to successfully bring this kind of claim, a plaintiff must meet three specific requirements.

A Shared Understanding to Commit the Harm

The first element of concerted action is an agreement—either spoken, written, or simply understood—between two or more people to engage in a harmful act. This doesn’t mean the agreement must be formal or even discussed out loud. Courts will recognize a “tacit” understanding if it’s clear that the people involved were acting together toward the same wrongful goal. For example, if several parties know that a certain business practice is harmful or illegal and agree to participate in it anyway, that may satisfy this requirement.

Each Person Participated in the Harm

The second element is that all the people being accused must have done something wrong themselves. It’s not enough to just know about someone else’s bad behavior—each person must have actively participated in a way that contributed to the harm. This means everyone involved must have taken some action that helped the wrongful conduct take place, whether it was giving advice, providing tools or resources, or doing something that encouraged or supported the plan.

One Person Committed the Actual Wrong

The third element requires that at least one of the people involved actually carried out the harmful act. In other words, someone must have committed a wrongful act that directly caused the harm, and that act must have happened as part of the agreed-upon plan. This doesn’t mean all the parties had to be present when it happened, but the act must have been in furtherance of their joint plan. If the harmful act was something completely different or unexpected, the claim may not succeed.

Conclusion

Concerted action is a way to hold multiple people or businesses responsible when they work together to cause harm. To prove this claim in New York, a plaintiff must show there was an agreement to do something harmful, that each party contributed to that harm in some way, and that one of them followed through with the wrongful act. This cause of action is especially useful in complex cases where harm was the result of group behavior or corporate collaboration, making it a powerful legal tool when all three elements can be clearly shown.

Find the Law

“The elements of concerted action are (1) an understanding “‘express or tacit, to participate in “a common plan or design to commit a tortious act”‘” and (2) that each defendant acted tortiously and (3) that one of the defendants committed an act which constitutes a tort in pursuance of the agreement. ( Rastelli v. Goodyear Tire Rubber Co.,79 N.Y.2d 289, 295 [1992].)” Cresser v. Am. Tobacco Co., 174 Misc. 2d 1, 7 n.4 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1997)