Justice Paul Wooten
Plaintiff Antolino sued his former employer to recover damages for breach of an employment agreement and violations of the Labor Law. Defendant Distribution Management Consolidators Worldwide LLC moved for partial dismissal of the complaint, seeking an order dismissing the cause of action for retaliation under Labor Law §215. Defendant argued plaintiff's retaliation claim must be dismissed because plaintiff did not complain to his employer about a specific violation of Labor Law. Defendant contended that the plaintiff was required to cite a specific section of Labor Law in his complaint to his employer. Plaintiff alleged that he had a contractual right to the payments that he seeks, that his employer withheld those wages, that he complained about the wages being withheld, and that after he complained, he was fired. The court denied the motion, determining that plaintiff's allegations that the defendant sought to damage his ability to earn a living, by speaking ill of him and telling business associates and former coworkers not to associate with him, are sufficient to satisfy pleading requirements for purposes of withstanding this motion to dismiss.
