Barbara Nice v. Combustion Engineering

Order unanimously modified on the law and as modified affirmed without costs in accordance with the following Memorandum:
Plaintiff commenced this action against her former employer seeking to recover damages for alleged wrongful and bad faith
demotion from exempt to non-exempt status, which allegedly deprived her of certain disability retirement benefits. Plaintiff's
complaint sets forth causes of action for (1) fraudulent demotion, (2) breach of employment contract, and (3) duress, undue
influence and breach of defendant's duty of good faith. The court granted defendant's motion to dismiss the complaint pursuant
to CPLR 3211 (a) (7) on the ground that the complaint fails to state a cause of action. Supreme Court properly dismissed plaintiff's cause of action for fraud. The complaint fails to state a legally sufficient
cause of action for fraud because the only fraud alleged relates to the breach of the employment contract (Garwood v Sheen
& Shine, 175 A.D.2d 569, 570, lv denied 78 N.Y.2d 864; Dalton v Union Bank of Switzerland, 134 A.D.2d 174, 176; Wegman
v Dairylea Coop., 50 A.D.2d 108, 113, lv dismissed 38 N.Y.2d 918).