Crowded 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” CompanyIn Francis v. Kings Park Manor, Inc., 14-cv-3555 (EDNY March 16, 2015), the court held that the plaintiff, an African American man whose neighbor subjected him to racist comments, stated a cause of action for breach of the implied warranty of habitability. Plaintiff alleged, for example, that his next-door neighbor called him a “fucking nigger” and repeatedly…
Read More Racist Neighbor’s Conduct Gives Rise to Breach of Warranty of Habitabilty ClaimAccording to a recent article, employers may be finding new ways to mask age discrimination in hiring – namely, by advertising and/or stating a preference for so-called “digital natives.” A “digital native” – as opposed to a “digital immigrant” – has been defined as “a person who was born just before during or after the general…
Read More Ads Seeking “Digital Natives” May Evidence Age DiscriminationThe Appellate Division, First Department, in Matter of Law Offs. of Oliver Zhou, PLLC v. New York State Div. of Human Rights, 2015 NY Slip Op 04569 (App. Div. 1st Dept. May 28, 2015) recently upheld the determination of the State Division of Human Rights that the petitioners violated the State Human Rights Law. In…
Read More Termination After Showing Employer Sexual Harassment Complaint Supports State Division AwardIn Orange v. Leake & Watts Inc., No. 13-CV-6110 KBF, 2015 WL 2340649 (S.D.N.Y. May 15, 2015), the court granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed plaintiff’s race discrimination and retaliation claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Plaintiff, an African American assistant teacher, alleged “that she suffered an adverse employment…
Read More Court Dismisses Race Discrimination Claim; Disciplinary Notice and Negative Evaluation Were Not “Adverse Employment Actions”