In Sada v August Wilson Theater, 2016 NY Slip Op 05024 (App. Div. 1st Dept. June 23, 2016) – a personal injury/premises liability/slip-and-fall case – the court unanimously affirmed the denial of defendant’s motion for summary judgment. From the Order: Plaintiff alleges that as he was returning to a show at defendant August Wilson Theater after having…
Read More Slip/Fall on Wet Staircase; Plaintiff Survives Summary JudgmentIn Beaton v. Metro. Transp. Auth. New York City Transit, No. 15 CIV. 8056 (ER), 2016 WL 3387301 (S.D.N.Y. June 15, 2016), the court held that plaintiff – who suffered from schizophrenia – successfully pleaded discrimination (termination) and retaliation claims, but failed to sufficiently allege a failure-to-accommodate claim. Plaintiff’s allegations, in sum: Plaintiff alleges that…
Read More Schizophrenic Plaintiff Fired for Sleeping on the Job Plausibly Alleges Disability Discrimination and Retaliation, But Not Failure-to-Accommodate, ClaimsIn Barone v. Emmis Communications Corp., 2016 Slip Op 31049(U), Index 155032/12 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. June 7, 2016), the court, per Judge Hagler, granted summary judgment to defendants and dismissed plaintiff’s gender discrimination claim under the NYC Human Rights Law. The decision summarizes the legal framework (the two methods, pretext and mixed-motive) for analyzing NYC…
Read More Spousal Jealousy, Not Gender, Was Basis for Termination; Court Dismisses NYC Human Rights Law Discrimination ComplaintIn Franchino v. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, No. 15 CV 6299 (VB), 2016 WL 3360525, at (S.D.N.Y. June 15, 2016), the court dismissed plaintiff’s complaint for discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity, national origin, and age under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim. In dismissing his Title VII…
Read More SDNY Dismisses Employment Discrimination Complaint Asserting Unequal Discipline and Age-Related Jokes and CommentsToday I appeared in Bronx Supreme Court on behalf of a plaintiff in a personal injury (trip-and-fall) case. The defendant had made a motion to strike the case from the trial calendar (due, in part, to its claim that plaintiff still owed it discovery) and to change the venue to another (less plaintiff-friendly) county. I was…
Read More New York Motion Practice: The “Affirmation of Good Faith” RequirementIn New York State Div. of Human Rights v. Team Taco Mexico, Corp., No. 2014-06673, 2016 WL 3265489 (N.Y. App. Div. June 15, 2016), the court held that there was “substantial evidence in the record to support the determination of the Commissioner of the [NYS Division of Human Rights] … that the respondent David Orduna…
Read More Court Upholds NYSDHR Sexual Harassment Determination and Award Against Team Taco Mexico And Individual HarasserIn Tse v. New York University, No. 10-CV-7207 (DAB), 2016 WL 3281045 (S.D.N.Y. June 6, 2016), the court, per SDNY Judge Batts, held that plaintiff’s receipt of long-term disability and social security disability insurance benefits did not preclude her from receiving back pay or front pay as a matter of law, and that those benefits should…
Read More SDNY Holds That Lost Wages Were Not Precluded, and Should Not Be Offset, by Disability BenefitsIn Magnotti v. Crossroads Healthcare Mgmt. LLC, 14-cv-6679, 2016 WL 3080801 (E.D.N.Y. May 27, 2016), the court discusses the circumstances under which an individual may be held liable under the New York State and City Human Rights Laws. In this disability discrimination and retaliation case, plaintiff – a full-time supervising pharmacist – asserts that after…
Read More Court Discusses Individual Liability Under NYS and NYC Human Rights Laws in Disability Discrimination CaseIn In re Townsend, No. 15-43411-CEC, 2016 WL 2927522 (Bankr. E.D.N.Y. May 16, 2016), the court granted plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment that a judgment entered on a $450,000 jury verdict in Ganci v. U.S. Limousine Service and Raymond Townsend, EDNY 10-cv-3027, was non-dischargeable under the Bankruptcy Code. The Bankruptcy Code “exempts from discharge any debt for…
Read More Sexual Harassment Judgment Not Dischargeable in Bankruptcy, Court HoldsIn Gomez v. New York City Police Dep’t, No. 15-CV-4036 (AJN), 2016 WL 3212108 (S.D.N.Y. June 7, 2016), the court dismissed plaintiff’s claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the NYS and NYC Human Rights Laws. Election of Remedies Initially, the court held that plaintiff’s decision…
Read More Sexual Harassment (and Other) Claims Dismissed; Court Discusses and Applies Principles of Administrative Exhaustion, Election of Remedies, and Statute of Limitations