In Brown v. Queens Center for Progress, No. 16 CIV 1399, 2016 WL 1171593 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 24, 2016), Eastern District Judge Brian Cogan dismissed the pro se plaintiff’s employment discrimination complaint for failure to state a claim.
The court succinctly explains what the federal anti-discrimination laws cover (and, arguably more importantly, what they do not cover):
Plaintiff may be suffering from a misunderstanding of her rights under federal law. She has no right under federal law to be treated fairly in the workplace. Her employer is free to treat her unfairly, unreasonably, and unwisely. This Court does not supply a grievance process in which an employee can complain because she would like to be treated better or because an employer is running its business poorly. The only thing that federal [law] prohibits is discrimination against plaintiff on the basis of immutable characteristics, such as her race, her national origin, her gender, or, additionally, her religion.
Plaintiff’s complaint was deficient because, according to the court, plaintiff failed to identify a federal employment discrimination statute under which she sought relief or “any facts regarding her membership in a protected class or circumstances giving rise to an inference of discrimination.”