Opinion
No. CV 06-5005693
November 30, 2006
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION RE MOTION TO STRIKE (#101) PRIMA FACIE TORT
Discussion
The theory of prima facie tort was first recognized in Connecticut in the case Connors v. Connally, 86 Conn. 641, 647, 86 A. 600 (1913), and has since received little treatment from courts in this state. In the present case, the plaintiff moves the court to strike the second count of prima facie tort on the grounds that a prima facie tort claim may not be plead where the plaintiff has also alleged a traditional tort theory of recovery.
In the recent case Brandt v. Walker Digital, LLC, Superior Court, judicial district of Stamford-Norwalk at Stamford, Docket No. CV 0194566 (November 1, 2004, Adams, J.) ( 38 Conn. L. Rptr. 182), the court had occasion to rule on a motion to strike a prima facie tort claim. The court noted that The Restatement (Second) of Torts established the following elements for a prima facie tort claim: "One who intentionally causes injury to another is subject to liability to the other for that injury, if his conduct is generally culpable and not justifiable under the circumstances. This liability may be imposed although the actor's conduct does not come within a traditional category of tort liability." 4 Restatement (Second), Torts § 870, p. 279 (1979).
In the present case, the plaintiff has also advanced a claim under the tort of defamation, "a traditional category of tort liability." Id. To date, the defamation claim has not been stricken or dismissed from this action, and remains a viable cause of action. Consequently, because the alleged conduct falls within the traditional tort of defamation, this court grants the defendant's motion to strike the prima facie tort claim.