Plaintiff seeks the financial disclosure in this defamation action solely in support of his claim for punitive damages. Such discovery should await the return of a special verdict on the question of liability (Rupert v. Sellers, 48 A.D.2d 265), and is inappropriate at this pretrial stage (Dufresne v. Duemler, 108 A.D.2d 1102). At the very least, plaintiff must demonstrate some factual basis for his punitive damage claim before invading the financial privacy of the defendants (Moran v. International Playtex, 103 A.D.2d 375).
Concur — Kupferman, J.P., Ross, Asch, Ellerin and Rubin, JJ.