JEFFERSON COUNTY DISTRICT COURT, STATE OF COLORADO Address: 100 Jefferson County Parkway Golden, Colorado 80401 Telephone: (303) 271-6145 Plaintiff: COMFORT DENTAL GROUP, INC., a Colorado Corporation, v. Defendants: DR. SALLY PRESTON, an individual. Attorneys for Defendants Eric B. Liebman (#27051) William F. Jones (#35294) Joshua P. Kweller (#40686) MOYE WHITE LLP 1400 16th Street, 6th Floor Denver, CO 80202 Telephone: (303) 292-2900 Facsimile: (303) 292-4510 Email: eric.liebman@moyewhite.com billy.jones@moyewhite.com josh.kweller@moyewhite.com COURT USE ONLY Case No.: Division/Courtroom: COMPLAINT Plaintiff, Comfort Dental Group, Inc. ( Comfort Dental ), by its attorneys, MOYE WHITE LLP, states: INTRODUCTION 1. This case arises from Defendant Dr. Sally Preston s ( Dr. Preston ) slanderous statement made regarding the quality of Comfort Dental s professional services. Dr. Preston, an assistant professor of dentistry at the University of Colorado Dental School, denigrated the dental work and professional care performed by Comfort Dental dentists by telling a student that it was typical of Comfort Dental dentists to do shoddy work and leave it for another dentist correct the situation with no basis for the untrue statement. Comfort Dental seeks damages to rectify the harm it has suffered.
PARTIES, JURISDICTION, AND VENUE 2. Comfort Dental is a Colorado corporation with its principal place of business at 2540 Kipling Street, Lakewood, Colorado 80215. 3. Defendant Dr. Sally Preston ( Dr. Preston ) is a Colorado citizen who upon information and belief resides at 8 White Fir Court, Littleton, Colorado 80127. 4. Jurisdiction is proper in Colorado pursuant to C.R.S. 13-1-124 and the United States and Colorado constitutions as the acts complained of herein occurred in Colorado. 5. Venue is proper in this judicial district and county pursuant to C.R.C.P. 98(c) as among other things, upon information and belief, Defendant resides in Jefferson County. GENERAL ALLEGATIONS 6. Comfort Dental provides affordable dental care and is the largest dental franchise in the United States. Each office is independently owned and operated. 7. Dr. Preston is an assistant professor in the Department of Surgical Dentistry at the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine ( CU Dental School ). 8. CU Dental School operates an emergency clinic ( Emergency Clinic ) that provides urgent and emergency care for patients at rates commonly less than those charged by private practitioners. Treatment is provided by dental students under the supervision of CU Dental School faculty. 9. Dr. Preston has provided such supervision to dental students at the Emergency Clinic. 10. On information and belief, in August or September 2013, a patient came into the Emergency Clinic for dental services. 11. A dental student performed an initial in-take write-up on the patient. In this initial write-up, the patient told the dental student that she had received a dental crown from a Comfort Dental dentist. The patient stated that she had been in pain so she went back to the Comfort Dental dentist, who gave her an antibiotic for the pain. When the pain persisted, the patient came to the Emergency Clinic. 12. On information and belief, Dr. Preston was supervising the dental student for this patient, but was not present when the dental student performed the initial write-up with the patient. When the dental student described the patient s history to Dr. Preston, Dr. Preston responded to the dental student that this treatment was typical Comfort Dental, just give them an injection and send them to us. 2
13. Dr. Preston s statement is not based upon any facts or truth, as Dr. Preston had no basis for determining the patient s motivation for coming to the Emergency Clinic, if the patient was not satisfied with Comfort Dental s service, or if the dental work performed by Comfort Dental was typical or substandard. 14. Dr. Preston s actions were willful and wanton in that she was consciously aware that her statements were not based upon any facts or truth and would harm Comfort Dental, but nonetheless intentionally made the defamatory statement without regard for the risk of harm to Comfort Dental. 15. As a result of Dr. Preston s statement, Comfort Dental s reputation has been damaged. 16. Based on information and belief, Dr. Preston is likely to continue to make false and disparaging statements about Comfort Dental. FIRST CLAIM FOR RELIEF (Defamation Outside the Scope of Employment) herein. 17. The preceding paragraphs are incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth 18. As demonstrated more fully above, Defendant made a defamatory statement concerning Comfort Dental and the conduct of its business, including, but not limited to, the following: a. Stating that it was standard and typical practice for Comfort Dental dentists to fail to care for their patients in that Comfort Dental dentists would perform only the bare minimum necessary care and would leave their patients to receive follow-up care from other sources, while having no basis for such assertions. 19. Defendant published this defamatory statement to third parties. 20. This defamatory statement relates to the conduct of Comfort Dental s business and professional reputation and thus is per se defamatory. 21. The substance or gist of the defamatory statement is false at the time Dr. Preston made it. 22. Dr. Preston s act was willful and wanton in that Dr. Preston knew the defamatory statement was false and/or made the statements with reckless disregard as to its falsity and the harm that would be caused by her statement. 3
23. Dr. Preston made the defamatory statement while outside the scope of her employment as an assistant professor in that her defamatory statement was unrelated to the work assigned to her, was not incidental to the work assigned to her, and provided no benefit to her employer. 24. As a result of the defamatory statement, Comfort Dental has suffered damages in an amount to be proven at trial, including, but not limited to, actual damages, interest, costs, attorney s fees, and expenses of litigation. SECOND CLAIM FOR RELIEF (Defamation in the Alternative to the First Claim for Relief) herein. 25. The preceding paragraphs are incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth 26. As demonstrated more fully above, Defendant made a defamatory statement concerning Comfort Dental and the conduct of its business, including, but not limited to, the following: a. Stating that it was standard and typical practice for Comfort Dental dentists to fail to care for their patients in that Comfort Dental dentists would perform only the bare minimum necessary care and would leave their patients to receive follow-up care from other sources, while having no basis for such assertions. 27. Defendant published this defamatory statement to third parties. 28. This defamatory statement relates to the conduct of Comfort Dental s business and professional reputation and thus is per se defamatory. 29. The substance or gist of the defamatory statement is false at the time Dr. Preston made it. 30. Dr. Preston s act was willful and wanton in that Dr. Preston knew the defamatory statement was false and/or made the statements with reckless disregard as to its falsity and the harm that would be caused by her statement. 31. As a result of the defamatory statement, Comfort Dental has suffered damages in an amount to be proven at trial, including, but not limited to, actual damages, interest, costs, attorney s fees, and expenses of litigation. WHEREFORE, Plaintiff Comfort Dental Group, Inc. respectfully requests that this Honorable Court enter judgment in favor of Plaintiff Comfort Dental Group, Inc. and against Dr. Sally Preston as follows: 4
a. For damages in an amount to be proven at trial as to Comfort Dental s claims for defamation; b. For a preliminary and permanent injunction against Dr. Preston from making false statements regarding Comfort Dental; c. For all costs, expenses and attorneys fees as allowed by law; d. For pre- and post-judgment interest as allowed by law; and e. For such other and further relief this Court deems just and proper. Respectfully submitted this day of December, 2013. MOYE WHITE LLP By: /s/ Eric. B. Liebman Eric B. Liebman (#27051) William F. Jones (#35294) Joshua P. Kweller (#40686) 16 Market Square 1400 16 th Street, 6 th Floor Denver, Colorado 80202-1027 Telephone: (303) 292-2900 Facsimile: (303) 292-4510 Email: eric.liebman@moyewhite.com Email: billy.jones@moyewhite.com Email: josh.kweller@moyewhite.com Attorneys for Comfort Dental Group, Inc. ADDRESS OF PLAINTIFF: Comfort Dental Group, Inc. 2540 Kipling Street Lakewood, Colorado 80215 5