January 2013

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Last week the U.S. Supreme Court granted a Petition for Writ of Certiorari filed by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in the case captioned University of Texas Southwestern Center v. Naiel Nassar, M.D.  General information regarding the case is available at SCOTUSblog; the actual petition is accessible here. The question presented is: Whether

Read More Supreme Court to Decide Whether Mixed-Motive Analysis Applies to Retaliation Claims
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Below is the complaint filed by Chenin Duclos this week against the City of New York and several police officers.  Plaintiff was one of the several bystanders shot by NYPD officers as they attempted to apprehend suspected shooter Jeffrey Johnson near the Empire State Building last August. Specifically, Duclos asserts the following causes of action:  (1)…

Read More Empire State Building NYPD Shooting Lawsuit
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Last week employee Michael Spiegel filed suit against the Hotel Edison, alleging violations of New York’s general whistleblower statute (New York Labor Law § 740) and age discrimination under the NY State and City Human Rights Laws. Spiegel alleges that he was treated unfairly and then fired after complaining about dangerous open windows without window…

Read More Employee Files Whistleblower and Age Discrimination Lawsuit Against Hotel Edison
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Caroline Stern and her boyfriend George Hess recently settled their lawsuit against New York City (and others) for $75,000. Hess and Stern were arrested by NYPD officers in 2011 after being observed dancing on a nearly-empty subway platform.  You can read more about their case here; the initial complaint is below. [scribd id=121523924 key=key-17jxctmv9wrx4jnj403j mode=scroll]

Read More NYC Pays $75,000 To Settle Dancing Arrest Case
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Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Below is a picture of President Lyndon Johnson signing into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – one of the broadest-sweeping pieces of civil rights legislation in U.S. history – as Dr. King looks on. The date was July 2, 1964. Here’s video. Title VII of that…

Read More The Content of Their Character
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Yesterday the Appellate Division, in Cuentas v. Sephora USA, affirmed a lower court ruling granting summary judgment to a construction worker plaintiff on his Labor Law § 240(1) claim.  While working on a 6-foot tall, A-frame ladder (example pictured), plaintiff lost his balance and fell, sustaining injuries. The standards for evaluating a Labor Law §…

Read More Summary Judgment For Plaintiff, Who Fell From Ladder, Under Labor Law § 240(1)
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In a recently-issued summary order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal, on summary judgment, of plaintiff’s hostile work environment, retaliation, and race, gender, and disability discrimination claims.  The case, Solomon v. Southampton Union Free School District, No. 11-3935-cv, 2012 WL 6097357 (Dec. 10, 2012), illustrates yet again…

Read More In Hostile Work Environment Cases, Context Counts
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Last week in Simmons-Grant v. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, the Southern District of New York held that defendant law firm did not engage in race discrimination against an African American contract attorney.  Plaintiff argued that, as an African American attorney, she was given less lucrative work than other non-African American contract attorneys retained…

Read More Court Dismisses Attorney’s Race Discrimination and Retaliation Claims Against Law Firm
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Employment cases are often difficult to prove, and even the best-intentioned litigants with objectively reasonable factual and legal support for their claim(s) sometimes lose.  It happens.  Case outcomes are very difficult to predict, due to a variety of factors. A Memorandum and Order issued by Southern District Judge J. Paul Oetken last week in Tucker…

Read More Federal Judge Slams Lawyer For Making Baseless Allegations In Employment Case
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In a recent case, Chenzira v. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Med. Ctr., an Ohio federal court found that plaintiff stated a claim for religious discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Defendant fired plaintiff because plaintiff refused to get a flu shot.  Plaintiff alleged that this “violated her religious and philosophical convictions…

Read More Broccoli Worship? Federal Court Finds That Veganism Can Be A “Religion” Under Title VII
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