In Doerr v. Goldsmith, decided by the New York Court of Appeals on June 9, 2015, the New York Court of Appeals (for non-New York readers, New York’s highest court) reversed the decision of the First Department in Doerr v. Goldsmith, 110 AD3d 453, which permitted a claim arising from a dog-related injury to continue.…
Read More NY Court of Appeals Adheres to “Vicious Propensity” Rule for Dog-Related InjuriesThe Southern District of New York recently denied defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint alleging sexual harassment, hostile work environment, and retaliation against Urban Outfitters. In Swiderski v. Urban Outfitters, 14-cv-6307, 2015 WL 3513088 (SDNY June 4, 2015), the court held that the plaintiff pleaded an actionable hostile work environment claim based on the conduct…
Read More Sexual Harassment/Hostile Work Environment Lawsuit (Based in Part on Customer Conduct) Against Urban Outfitters ContinuesIn the disturbing case of Lent v. CCNH, Inc. d/b/a Cortland Care Center, 2015 WL 3463433 (NDNY June 1, 2015), the court held that plaintiff sufficiently alleged (hostile work environment) sexual harassment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the New York State Human Rights Law. Plaintiff alleged that her co-worker “cornered…
Read More Allegations of Rape by Co-Worker Sufficiently Allege Hostile Work Environment Sexual HarassmentA recent decision, DeLaurencio v. Brooklyn Children’s Center, Superintendent (EDNY May 29, 2015), reiterates that Title VII is not a “general civility code” and that “[w]ork environments that are hostile for non-discriminatory reasons do not fall within the ambit of Title VII.” In this case, the court held that none of the allegations in plaintiff’s…
Read More Employment Discrimination / Hostile Work Environment Allegations Amounting to Rude Conduct Unmotivated by Discriminatory Animus Fail to State a ClaimCrowded movie theaters can be fun, especially for summer blockbusters. Unless, of course, you’re stuck up front and need to crane your neck way up. Another downside is the risk of being injured in a movie theater crowd stampede. Those are the facts giving rise to the lawsuit in Sachar v. Columbia Pictures Indus., Inc., decided by…
Read More Overbooked Movie Theater Stampede Case ContinuesHere is the employment discrimination complaint, captioned Miller v. Zara USA, Dilip Patel, and Moises Costas Rodriguez, filed in Supreme Court, NY County (Index No. 155512-2015), on June 3, 2015. In it, Zara’s former in-house counsel, Ian Jack Miller, asserts various claims, including religion-based discrimination, national origin discrimination, sexual orientation discrimination, and retaliation.
Read More Employment Discrimination Lawsuit Against ZaraBelow is the complaint, captioned Kology v. MySpace NYC et al., 15-cv-3061 and filed May 27, 2015 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, alleging sexual harassment, hostile work environment, and retaliation against real estate company MySpace NYC. Plaintiff alleges, among other things, that defendants fired her because she refused the company’s owner’s…
Read More Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against MySpace NYCIn Casablanca v New York Times Co., 47 Misc 3d 1215(A), 2015 NY Slip Op 50629(U) (N.Y. Sup. Ct. N.Y. Cty. April 17, 2015), the court granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s employment discrimination claims. This case underscores the necessity in an employment discrimination case of establishing a link between a protected characteristic…
Read More Court Dismisses Disability Discrimination Claim, Rejecting “Smoking Gun” EmailTitle VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits “disparate treatment”, or intentional discrimination, based on religion by making it unlawful for an employer to, among other things, “fail … to hire … any individual … because of such individual’s … religion”. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e–2(a)(1) (emphasis added). In Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Abercrombie &…
Read More U.S. Supreme Court Revives Muslim’s Bias Claim Against AbercrombieIn a lawsuit filed on May 6, 2015 in the Supreme Court of the State of New York and captioned Hayblum v. Life Alert Emergency Response, Inc. et al, plaintiff alleges that his former employer – the company known for its “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” advertisements – subjected him to employment…
Read More Employment Discrimination Lawsuit Against the “I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Get Up” Company