In Spearin v. Linmar, L.P., 129 AD3d 528 (App. Div. 1st Dept. June 16, 2015), a personal injury case, the court addressed an issue that is coming up with increasing frequency: namely, the extent to which a plaintiff’s social media postings must be turned over in discovery. The court reversed a lower court decision that “ordered…
Read More Piano-Playing Plaintiff’s Facebook Posts Ordered for In-Camera InspectionIn Catapano-Fox v. City of New York, No. 14 CIV. 8036 KPF, 2015 WL 3630725 (S.D.N.Y. June 11, 2015), the Southern District of New York denied defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s claim that she was fired in retaliation for complaining about sexual harassment. This decision provides a good overview of the legal principles governing the proper…
Read More Retaliation Claim, Based on Termination in Response to Sexual Harassment Complaints, May ProceedIn DiMarzo v. Jones Lang LaSalle Ams. Inc. (App. Div. 1st Dept. June 11, 2015), the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed the denial of defendants’ motion for summary judgment. In this personal injury / trip-and-fall case, plaintiff alleged that they were injured after tripping and falling on an extension cord on defendants’ premises. The court explained: The…
Read More Extension Cord Trip-Fall Case ContinuesIn a somewhat unusual departure from my typical blog posts, this one is about a cease-and-desist letter addressed to me personally. The letter (here, with selected exhibits and below), from Florida lawyer Casey Cummings of Florida law firm Kenner & Cummings PLLC, asserts that a blog post I published on June 3, 2014 is “defamatory”, asks me “kindly” to take…
Read More My Response to a Cease-and-Desist LetterHere is the complaint, captioned Andre v. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center et al, 15-cv-04557 (SDNY June 11, 2015), in which the female plaintiff alleges, among other things, that her female supervisor sexually harassed her and fired her in retaliation for engaging in protected activity.
Read More Same-Sex Sexual Harassment, Pregnancy Discrimination, and Retaliation Lawsuit Against Memorial Sloan KetteringIn Chiara v. Dernago, 2015 NY Slip Op 04444 (2nd Dept. May 27, 2015), the Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed the denial of defendant’s motion under CPLR 4404(a) to set aside a jury verdict in plaintiff’s favor. Here are the facts of this personal injury / car accident case: The evidence at the trial on the…
Read More Court Upholds $70k Punitive Damage Award Against Drunk DriverIn 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 Claim