plaintiff was employed by the Institute from September 1968 until February 18, 1972 when she was discharged wrongfully, maliciously and without cause, (2) that during her term of employment she had been promoted on several occasions, rising from library trainee to permanent Head of the Processing Department in charge of sixteen employees and responsible for all acquisition, cataloging and processing of materials for the Institute, (3) that at the time of her discharge she had acquired tenure under the Institute's rules, regulations and practices, that is she had the right to retain permanent employment in her last classified position unless demoted or discharged for cause after an evaluation of less than competent followed by a probationary period, (4) that, although she had performed all her duties well andcomplied with the requirements of her employment, she was fired without just cause, without a proper pre-dismissal hearing of the matter and because she was a woman, and (5) that duPont in his official capacity thereafter circulated defamatory letters to the County Executive, New Castle County Council members and to the Journal, American Libraries which injured her professional reputation and standing and substantially impaired her ability to secure other employment commensurate with her abilities, training and experience.
The plaintiff contends that the above factual allegations provide a sufficient basis for her causes of action derived from the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, in that the defendants were persons acting under color of state law (1) who deprived her of liberty and property in violation of her substantive