17 Conn. L. Rptr. 64 | Conn. Super. Ct. | 1996
In her complaint, Martinez specifically alleges that in the First Count that DeJesus' sexual misconduct and harassment constituted a tortious interference with Martimez's contract with the Hartford Board of Education; in the Second Count said conduct tortiously interfered with Martinez's business relationship with the Fox School and the Hartford Board of Education; in the Third Count that said conduct constituted sexual harassment in violation of Section
On December 18, 1995, DeJesus filed a Motion to Dismiss the first three counts and a Motion to Strike the Fourth and Fifth counts.
Plaintiff claims that claims of tortious interference with contractual relations and tortious interference with business expectancy alleged in the First and Second Counts do not fall within the ambit of the collective bargaining agreement; that as a tenured teacher, she is not required to exhaust her remedies; and finally, that claims arising out of the wrongful transfer of teachers are exempt from resolution under the traditional grievance and arbitration procedures under the collective bargaining agreement. CT Page 4077
Both parties rely on the provisions found in the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Hartford Board of Education of the City of Hartford and the Hartford Federation of Teachers, Local No. 1018, AFT, AFL-CIO July 1, 1992 — June 30, 1995. The collective bargaining agreement outlines the procedure for resolution of grievances and defines "grievance" to mean "a complaint by an employee that he/she has been subjected to arbitrary, capricious or discriminatory policy or practice or that his/her rights under the specific language of the administrative regulations or the directive of the administration, whether contained in Board Policy and Administrative Manual or in the Administrative Regulations Handbook or in this Agreement have been violated or that as to him/her there is a misinterpretation or a misapplication of the specific provisions of administrative regulations or the directive of the administration, or of this Agreement."
Plaintiff offers no authority to support her contention that tenured teachers are not bound by the conditions set CT Page 4078 forth in the collective bargaining agreement. On the contrary, Article III of the agreement entitled, GrievanceProcedure, states that all "individual employees" are bound under the agreement. In Count One she concedes that she was "employed" by the Hartford Board of Education, as a teacher." As an employee of the Hartford Board of Education she is covered and subject to the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.
Finally, Plaintiff argues that any grievance she would have arose out of her transfer to Quick Middle School and accordingly, she was not eligible to participate in the grievance and arbitration procedures and thus, was not required to exhaust her administrative remedies. She relies on the holding of Cahill v. Board of Education,
In Cahill, since the collective bargaining agreement at issue did not provide for "teacher transfers", and the Supreme Court stated "Thus, the plaintiff's only remedy for contesting the defendant's decision to transfer her was the court process." Id., 104. In the present case, Article II of the agreement, specifically gives the Board the right to "employ, assign and transfer teachers [and] to suspend or dismiss the teachers of the schools in the manner provided by statute or ordinance."
Moreover, Hunt v. Prior,
Accordingly, the defendant's motion to dismiss the First CT Page 4079 and Second Counts of the Amended Complaint is granted, because Plaintiff failed to exhaust her administrative remedies under the collective bargaining agreement.
Section
It shall be a discriminatory practice in violation of this section: (1) for an employer, by himself or his agent . . . to discriminate against [any individual] in compensation or in terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of the individual's . . . sex;
(5) for any person, whether an employer or an employee or not, to aid, abet, incite, compel or coerce the doing of any act declared to be a discriminatory employment practice or to attempt to do so.
Defendant argues that §
Section
The cause of action against DeJesus in the Third Count is insufficient at law because, supervisors are not employers and are not the intended defendants within the meaning of this statute. The motion to strike the Third Count is granted.
It appears that Plaintiff has sufficiently pleaded that DeJesus intended to inflict emotional distress, knew or should have known that emotional distress was a likely result of his conduct and that the conduct was the cause of the plaintiff's distress. It also appears that the conduct alleged by Plaintiff is extreme and outrageous and goes beyond conduct that is "merely insulting or displays bad manners or results in hurt feelings." Mellaly v. Eastman Kodak Company, 42 Conn. Super. Ct. 19, 20, (1991).
Plaintiff alleges, among other claims, that DeJesus intentionally and repeatedly placed his hand down her back and touched her brassiere in a sexually aggressive manner; positioned his body in order to force physical contact between himself and Martinez in a sexually aggressive manner and made threatening gestures, screamed and yelled at Martinez in the CT Page 4081 presence of both students and other faculty. In reviewing the legal sufficiency of a complaint, the truth of the facts alleged is assumed and they are construed in the light most favorable to sustaining the sufficiency of the complaint.Bouchard v. People's Bank,
Viewing the facts alleged in the Fifth Count in a manner most favorable to the plaintiff, including the facts necessarily implied and fairly provable under the allegations, the court finds that they would support a cause of action for negligent infliction of emotional distress. S.M.S. Textile v.Brown, Jacobson, Tillinghast, Lahan King, P.C.,