Stevens v. Khalily

Citations

• 220 Conn. App. 634

Syllabus

After the dissolution of the plaintiff's marriage to his former spouse, T, the plaintiff brought an action against the defendants, T's mother and stepfather, seeking damages for, inter alia, defamation. The defendants filed a motion to strike all counts of the complaint. The trial court granted the defendants' motion to strike as to all counts, finding, inter alia, that, even when construed broadly and realistically, the plaintiff's defamation allegations failed to sufficiently allege a claim for defamation with the requisite specificity. On appeal to this court, the plaintiff claims only that the trial court improperly struck the defamation counts of his complaint. Held that this court affirmed the trial court's judgment granting the defendants' motion to strike on the alternative ground that the plaintiff failed to allege reputational harm, one of the four elements necessary to establish a prima facie case of defamation per quod, and, because the plaintiff failed to plead all elements of defamation, the defamation counts were properly stricken. Argued May 9—officially released July 25, 2023