Clark v. State

165 A.D.3d 1371

85 N.Y.S.3d 620

Donna CLARK, Appellant,

v.STATE of New York, Respondent.

525916

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, New York.

Calendar Date: September 14, 2018

Decided and Entered: October 11, 2018

Donna Clark, Albany, appellant pro se.

Barbara D. Underwood, Attorney General, Albany (Robert M. Goldfarb of counsel), for respondent.

Before: Egan Jr., J.P., Lynch, Devine, Clark and Rumsey, JJ.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Lynch, J.

Appeal from an order of the Court of Claims (Milano, J.), entered March 3, 2017, which granted defendant's motion to dismiss the claim.

From 2005 to 2007, claimant worked for the Office of the State Comptroller (hereinafter OSC) as a Calculations Clerk 1. In March 2007, claimant was placed on involuntary leave due to inappropriate behavior and, following hearings pursuant to Civil Service Law § 72, claimant was found to be unfit to perform her duties and a danger to her coworkers and was ultimately terminated from her employment in July 2009 ( Clark v. Dominique, 798 F.Supp.2d 390, 395–398 [N.D. N.Y.2011] ). Thereafter, claimant filed multiple employment-related discrimination complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and commenced subsequent federal actions, each of which was dismissed ( Clark v. New York State Office of the Comptroller, 2014 WL 823289, *13, 2014 U.S. Dist LEXIS 26575, *42 [N.D. N.Y., Mar. 3, 2014, No. 09–CV–716 (GLS/CFH) ] ; Clark v. Dominique, 798 F.Supp.2d at 395–398 ). In May 2014, claimant served a notice of intention to file a claim against defendant in which she raised allegations spanning from 1987 through March 2014 and continuing. In February 2016, claimant filed this claim seeking $120 million in damages as the result of alleged adverse and discriminatory employment actions taken by, among other government officials and personnel, various employees of OSC and the New York State and Local Retirement System. In lieu of answering, defendant moved to dismiss the claim, asserting, among other things, that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because the claim failed to comply with the substantive pleading requirements of Court of Claims Act § 11(b). The Court of Claims granted defendant's motion, prompting this appeal by claimant.

We affirm. "Pursuant to Court of Claims Act § 11(b), a claim must set forth the nature of the claim, the time when and place where it arose, the damages or injuries and the total sum claimed" ( Morra v. State of New York, 107 A.D.3d 1115, 1115, 967 N.Y.S.2d 169 [2013] ; see Davila v. State of New York, 140 A.D.3d 1415, 1415–1416, 34 N.Y.S.3d 508 [2016] ; Langner v. State of New York, 65 A.D.3d 780, 781, 883 N.Y.S.2d 667 [2009] ). "The purpose of the pleading requirements contained therein is to provide a sufficiently detailed description of the particulars of the claim to enable defendant to investigate and promptly ascertain the existence and extent of its liability" ( Robin BB. v. State of New York, 56 A.D.3d 932, 932, 867 N.Y.S.2d 284 [2008] [internal quotation marks, brackets and citation omitted]; see Jones v. State of New York, 56 A.D.3d 906, 907, 867 N.Y.S.2d 265 [2008] ). To that end, the Court of Claims Act does not require defendant "to ferret out or assemble information that section 11(b) obligates the claimant to allege" ( Robin BB. v. State of New York, 56 A.D.3d at 932, 867 N.Y.S.2d 284 [internal quotation marks and citation omitted]; see Rivera v. State of New York, 52 A.D.3d 1075, 1076, 860 N.Y.S.2d 294 [2008] ). Strict compliance with the pleading requirements contained in Court of Claims Act § 11(b) is required, and the failure to satisfy any of the pleading requirements is a jurisdictional defect (see Kolnacki v. State of New York, 8 N.Y.3d 277, 280–281, 832 N.Y.S.2d 481, 864 N.E.2d 611 [2007] ; Lepkowski v. State of New York, 1 N.Y.3d 201, 206–207, 770 N.Y.S.2d 696, 802 N.E.2d 1094 [2003] ; Hogan v. State of New York, 59 A.D.3d 754, 754–755, 872 N.Y.S.2d 250 [2009] ).

We agree with the Court of Claims that the claim, consisting of 88 prolix paragraphs, raises vague, conclusory and non-linear allegations that lack context and fail to provide a coherent and sufficiently detailed description of the particulars of the claim to enable defendant to investigate and promptly ascertain the existence and extent of its liability (see Flemming v. State of New York, 120 A.D.3d 848, 848, 991 N.Y.S.2d 181 [2014] ). Many of the allegations fail to provide a time and place when and where the alleged conduct occurred (see Court of Claims Act § 11[b] ), and, for those allegations that specify a date or general time period when alleged conduct occurred, the nature of the claim or identity and role of the individuals involved cannot be adequately...