In an action to recover damages, inter alia, for defamation, the defendant appeals, as limited by its brief, from so much of an order of the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Lama, J.), dated September 21, 1990, as denied those branches of its motion which were pursuant to CPLR 3211 (a) (7) to dismiss the second and third causes of action asserted in the complaint.
Ordered that the order is reversed insofar as appealed from, on the law, with costs, those branches of the defendant’s
The plaintiff’s employment with the defendant company was terminated "without cause” in October, 1989. Several months later, he received a letter from the company president which informed him that the discharge was being changed to "with cause” due to the manner in which he performed certain duties. The plaintiff commenced this action to recover damages, alleging, inter alia, in the second and third causes of action, that the statements in the letter were false and injurious to his reputation. Those branches of the defendant’s motion which were to dismiss these causes of action sounding in defamation were denied (see, CPLR 3211 [a] [7]). We now reverse insofar as appealed from.
The allegations in the complaint sounding in defamation failed to state a cause of action because the alleged defamatory statements were not pleaded with the specificity required by CPLR 3016 (a), and the plaintiff’s papers failed to specify to whom the statements were published (see, e.g., Horowitz v Aetna Life Ins.,
Although the plaintiff requested permission to replead in the event his complaint was found to be deficient, we decline to grant this relief. The plaintiff failed to disclose evidence demonstrating that he had a cause of action sounding in defamation or any other tort (see, Bardere v Zafir,