Disparaging Remarks About Native Americans Alleged in Manhattan Employment Discrimination Lawsuit

In a lawsuit captioned Tomahawk v. 207-215 W 98th St. Condominium et al (NY Sup. Ct. NY Cty. 152509/2016, filed March 23, 2016), the plaintiff – a disabled Native American and Hispanic porter at a Manhattan building – alleges that he was subjected to discrimination based on his disability and Native American heritage.

From the complaint:

Throughout Plaintiff’s employment with Defendants, Defendant [Superintendent] subjected Plaintiff to a work environment saturated with regular and ongoing expressions of hostility, insult, and ridicule on the basis of his race and/or national origin. Defendant [Superintendent] regularly made derogatory comments to Plaintiff such as “fucking Indian,” “is my apartment bigger than your reservation,” “it’s never been this hot in your teepee,” “go see your medicine man,” “is it warm in the teepees,” “I’m the chief of this tribe,” “fucking smart ass Indian, a fucking wise guy.”

Plaintiff asserts claims of hostile work environment, race discrimination, national origin discrimination, disability discrimination, and retaliation under the New York City Human Rights Law.

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