A woman who worked at a Connecticut state university for nine years says she was let go not long after she tested positive for tuberculosis that allegedly came from a student who had contracted the bacterial infection.
Dragana Marosz, who worked as a program specialist at Central Connecticut State University’s Intensive English Language Program, claims in a lawsuit against the university that she contracted tuberculosis as a result of contact with a CCSU student in her class who had an active infection.
Marosz claims in the suit that she she is owed lost wages and benefits; reinstatement and/or front pay; compensatory damages; attorney’s fees and costs; and any other relief the court deems “just and proper.” The suit claims CCSU discriminated against her because it declined to renew her employment contract and terminated her because of her disability, though she was “qualified to perform the essential functions of her job.”
“For nearly a decade Dragana Marosz was an exemplary CCSU employee who was dedicated to serving international students,” said attorney Gary Phelan, of Hurwitz Sagarin & Slossberg, LLC, of Milford.
“Yet just six weeks after she contracted tuberculosis from a student through no fault of her own she was cast aside. This case raises very important issues when public health intersects with the workplace,” said Phelan, who also teaches disability law at Quinnipiac University School of Law.
Central Connecticut State University said through a spokesperson that it does not comment on pending litigation.
Marosz has tuberculosis, “a contagious bacterial infection caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis. It primarily effects the lungs and potentially restricts a person in several major life activities, including, but not limited to, breathing. It can also spread to other organs such as the kidneys, spine or brain,” the suit says.
TB is one of the “world’s leading infectious diseases. TB germs are released into the air when someone with active TB disease in their lungs or throat coughs, sneezes or speaks. People nearby can inhale these germs,” the suit says. “TB is currently the top infectious cause of death globally, as approximately 1.23 million people worldwide died of TB in 2024. Similarly, the number of TB cases in the United States is increasing. In 2023, there were 10,347 reported TB cases in the United States, resulting in approximately 600 deaths,” the suit says.
Marosz has what is termed “latent TB,” and “has been and continues to undergo treatment with antibiotics to reduce the likelihood of her TB progressing to an active state. About 5-10% of people infected with TB will eventually develop TB disease,” the suit says.
According to a Connecticut Department of Public Health notification in 2024, there 66 tuberculosis cases reported in Connecticut in 2023, “(one case fewer than in 2022), corresponding to an incidence rate of 1.8/100,000, similar to 2022.” In 2024, 87 cases (or an incidence of 2.4 cases per 100,000 population) of tuberculosis disease were reported in Connecticut, a 32% increase from 2023, the agency reported.
Marosz also has filed administrative charges of disability discrimination with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and both are pending, the suit says .
During her nine-year tenure at CCSU, from Aug. 5, 2016 to Aug. 4, 2025, Marosz consistently received outstanding performance reviews and was described by CCSU’s administrators as essential to IELP’s operations and academic integrity, the suit says.
The suit, which says Marosz learned in late May 2025, that she had contracted tuberculosis, claims that, “rather than confront a serious public health problem on its campus, CCSU instead chose to remain silent about Ms. Marosz’s diagnosis and quietly terminate her employment six weeks later, on July 10, 2025, for fabricated and pretextual reasons.”
Prior to that, her employment was renewed annually throughout her time at CCSU, from 2017 through 2024, the suit says. Further, during that time, Marosz’s annual performance evaluations, completed by director Momar Ndiaye, rated her as “Excellent” or “Good” in all categories and CCSU’s Administrative Faculty Evaluation form described “Excellent” performance as “superior performance in meeting requirements,” the suit says. She also received an overall performance rating of excellent in every year from 2020 through 2024.
On June 11, 2024, Marosz was informed by Chief Human Resources Officer Christopher Wethje that she would now report directly to the provost and vice president for academic affairs, Kimberly Kostelis, but in July 2024, prior to his retirement, Ndiaye submitted a renewal request for Marosz’s position, and on that day, John Tully, interim associate vice president for academic affairs, wrote to Wethje, stating that her position “is critical to IELP student programming including curricula development and review,” according to the suit.
Tully noted in the correspondence that the absence of Marosz’s position would require CCSU to rely on part-time instructors, which he described as “prohibitively costly,” insufficient for curricular responsibilities and likely would require “extra side contracts,” again described as “prohibitively costly,” and recommended that her appointment be renewed for the period of Aug. 5, 2024 through Aug. 4, 2025, the suit says.
Then, on March 4 and March 5, 2025, a CCSU student told Marosz that he was feeling unwell and asked to be excused from class, and five days later she learned that the student had been hospitalized around March 6, 2025, according to the suit.
Marosz was told March 12, 2025 by the New Britain Public Health Department that she had been exposed to a student with active TB who had been hospitalized and that she needed to be tested, the suit says.
The nurse stated that she assumed CCSU had already contacted Marosz, but having “received no official notification from CCSU regarding her potential exposure,” Marosz told the public health department that it was the first official notice she had received, the suit says.
Marosz allegedly “was told by employees in the New Britain Public Health Department that they were surprised that CCSU representatives had only provided them with a ‘handful’ of people to contact,” according to the suit.
“On information and belief, CCSU did not conduct any contact tracing to assess whether other students and staff had been in contact with the student with TB,” the suit claims. Marosz had an initial test that was negative for TB and on that day, Wethje contacted her and requested that she report her test results, the suit says.
After she was told by the health department that standard TB testing protocol requires a second test within eight weeks, Marosz had one on May 20, 2025, and was told 10 days later that it came back positive, according to the suit.
While Wethje allegedly called Marosz to “express regret and stated he was ‘sorry’ about the diagnosis, “on information and belief, the New Britain Public Health Office notified (him that she) tested positive, as she did not report her results to CCSU herself,” the suit claims.
Marosz in June 2025 attended a scheduled meeting with Kostelis to discuss her contract renewal and disclosed her positive TB test and treatment. Kostelis did not acknowledge or comment regarding the diagnosis, the suit claims.
Marosz then, in July, had a second meeting with Kostelis “less than six weeks after she tested positive for TB” and was told that CCSU intended to “‘pause’ the IELP program and that President Zulma Toro did not want to renew the Plaintiff’s annual contract,” the suit claims.
When Marosz asked what pausing meant, “Kostelis provided no explanation” and when Marosz “asked why she had not been told earlier and whether the decision was influenced by her TB diagnosis, Ms. Kostelis remained silent,” according to the suit.
Later that day, on July 10, 2025, Marosz received an email from human resources “regarding an exit interview, suggesting that (she) schedule an immediate meeting if she wished to use accrued vacation time,” the suit says.
Marosz contacted her union, SUOAF Local 2826, on July 12, 2025 regarding the non-renewal of her contract. Union president Lisa Bigelow, advised her to schedule the exit interview for Aug. 4, 2025, the last day of Marosz’s contract, the suit says.
Then, on July 17, 2025, Bigelow emailed the Marosz and told her “that human resources was unaware that the IELP program was being paused.”
On the last day of her contract, believing that her program would be discontinued, Marosz emailed “colleagues asking whether IELP library materials could be repurposed for the Linguistics/Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages department” rather than be discarded, the suit claims. A colleague “responded that there had been no indication from Ms. Kostelis’ office that the program was being canceled, noting that there were continuing and incoming international students enrolled.”
The colleague “advised waiting for clarification from Academic Affairs and copied Ms. Kostelis and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs James Mulrooney. Mr. Mulrooney replied that ‘IELP is NOT being canceled’ and instructed that ‘all materials should remain where they are,’” the suit claims.
It further maintains that a week before “Mulrooney had emailed IELP students, confirming that the program would continue, stating: ‘We are currently making some changes to the program but, we ARE NOT canceling the program,’” the suit claims.
The suit notes that, in “its unmitigated state, TB is a progressive, debilitating and potentially fatal disease. It can destroy lung tissue, spread to vital organs and can cause systemic decline,” and that, “pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008, impairments are to be considered in their unmitigated state in determining whether an individual has a qualified disability. As a result of her TB, when in its unmitigated state, the Plaintiff is an ‘individual with a disability,’” it said.