WARREN W. EGINTON, Senior District Judge.
This is an employment discrimination action. Plaintiff Oliver Wellington alleges that defendant Norwalk Hospital discriminated against him based upon his age, religion, and gender in violation of federal and Connecticut law. In addition, Wellington alleges defamation and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Norwalk Hospital has moved to dismiss the state law discrimination claims (Counts Four, Five, and Six) for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. The Hospital has also moved to dismiss Wellington's defamation and negligent infliction of emotional distress claims (Counts Seven and Eight) for failure to state a claim. For the following reasons, defendant's motion will be granted.
The function of a motion to dismiss is "merely to assess the legal feasibility of the complaint, not to assay the weight of the evidence which might be offered in support thereof."
Norwalk Hospital argues that Wellington's state discrimination claims are not legally sustainable, as Wellington failed to exhaust his administrative remedies and obtain a release of jurisdiction from the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities ("CHRO"). Moreover, defendant asserts that any attempt to do so now would be untimely. Wellington acknowledges the exhaustion requirement, yet responds, without support, that an EEOC release "should be sufficient" to provide jurisdiction for state law claims even though no CHRO release has been filed.
Norwalk Hospital has moved to dismiss Wellington's defamation claim for failure to state a claim. The Hospital contends that Wellington has failed to adequately plead the details of any alleged defamatory conduct.
"A defamatory statement is defined as a communication that tends to harm the reputation of another as to lower him in the estimation of the community or to deter third persons from associating or dealing with him ... To establish a prima facie case of defamation, the plaintiff must demonstrate that: (1) the defendant published a defamatory statement; (2) the defamatory statement identified the plaintiff to a third person; (3) the defamatory statement was published to a third person; and (4) the plaintiff's reputation suffered injury as a result of the statement."
"A complaint is insufficient to withstand dismissal for failure to state a cause of action where, other than the bare allegation that the defendant's actions caused injury to plaintiff's reputation, the complaint sets forth no facts of any kind indicating what defamatory statements, if any, were made, when they were made, or to whom they might have been made."
Wellington responds that his allegations of defamation "sufficiently apprise" Norwalk Hospital as to the defamatory statements. Nevertheless, Wellington's defamation claim, as pleaded, fails to identify who made statements, how they were made, to whom they were made, and when they were made. Moreover, plaintiff's complaint does not include the specific language of any statements, beyond that Wellington "had made a serious work error." Accordingly, Wellington's defamation claim will be dismissed for failure to state a claim.
Norwalk Hospital has moved to dismiss Wellington's negligent infliction of emotional distress claim for failure to state a claim. The Hospital argues, in part, that Wellington has failed to allege any unreasonable conduct occurring during the termination process.
Wellington responds that he has alleged that "at least part of the reason for his termination was related to the accusation that he made a `serious work error.'" Stripped of its labels and conclusions, Wellington's allegations do not describe any wrongful conduct aside from the basis for Wellington's termination: a serious work incident involving a "medication discrepancy." Nevertheless, allegations that the employer had a wrongful purpose are insufficient.
For the foregoing reasons, Norwalk Hospital's motion to dismiss is GRANTED. Plaintiff is instructed to file an amended complaint that is consistent with this ruling within 14 days of this ruling's filing date.