Moccio v. Cornell University, 526 F. App'x 124

Moccio, former Senior Extension Associate at Cornell ILR and director of the Institute for Women and Work, sued Cornell, NYS ILR, and Dean Katz for multiple claims arising from her termination.
District Court initially dismissed Moccio’s defamation and invasion of privacy claims in 2009 under Rule 12(b)(6).
After discovery, the defendants moved for summary judgment on remaining claims; the district court granted summary judgment in 2012.
On appeal, Moccio challenges the district court’s rulings on defamation, retaliation, and breach of contract claims.
The panel reviews de novo both Rule 12(b)(6) dismissals and summary-judgment grants, viewing facts in the light most favorable to Moccio.
Court affirmatively holds that the defamation claim was properly dismissed, the retaliation claim lacked factual support for a discriminatory motive, and the breach-of-contract claim failed due to funding/work shortages.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Defamation claim sufficiency	Moccio argues defamation survives pleadings and discovery.	Katz letter does not impute disrepute to Moccio.	Defamation claim properly dismissed
Retaliation claim viability	Terminations show retaliation for protected activity.	WIED layoffs due to budget cuts, not retaliation.	Affirmed; no protected-activity retaliation shown
Breach of contract viability	Contract allegedly for-cause with funds/work; Moccio entitled to continued tenure.	Unit-wide budget shortfalls eliminated available funds/work; no basis to continue.	Affirmed; undisputed funds/work absence defeated contract claim

Taveras v. UBS AG, 708 F.3d 436 (2d Cir. 2013) (de novo review standard for Rule 12(b)(6) and summary judgment)
Maraschiello v. City of Buffalo Police Dep’t, 709 F.3d 87 (2d Cir. 2013) (summary judgment standard; credibility and evidence evaluation)
Rivera v. Rochester Genesee Reg’l Transp. Auth., 702 F.3d 685 (2d Cir. 2012) (genuine dispute and reasonable-jury standard for summary judgment)