In Kalia v. City University of New York, No. 153700/2025, 2026 WL 964811 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Apr. 07, 2026), the court, inter alia, granted defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s claims against the City University of New York.
From the decision:
The NYCHRL claims are dismissed pursuant to the doctrine of sovereign immunity. CUNY, which is an instrumentality of New York State, is not subject to the provisions of the NYCHRL (see Ruderman v New York State Ins. Fund, 215 AD3d 505, 506 [1st Dept 2023] citing Jattan v Queens Coll. Of City Univ. of N.Y., 64 AD3d 540, 542 [2d Dept 2009]).
Pursuant to CPLR 8602(g), “State” includes any state “officials acting in his or her official capacity.” Therefore, the State’s sovereign immunity extends to officers of the State engaged in carrying out governmental functions. This includes Ochiogrosso. Plaintiff fails to allege any facts that show Ochiogrosso committed tortious acts outside the scope of his employment as an officer of CUNY. Therefore, the NYCHRL claims asserted against Ochiogrosso are dismissed.
The court also dismissed plaintiff’s hostile work environment claim on the ground of collateral estoppel, and noting that the complaint in this action is (like the complaints in other actions initiated by the plaintiff) “devoid of any factual allegations showing severe or pervasive conduct or remarks directed at Plaintiff due to his race or national origin.”