2017

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In Moraetis v. Evans, 2017 NY Slip Op 03451 (App. Div. 1st Dept. May 2, 2017), the court discussed the application of the “single employer” doctrine to plaintiff’s discrimination claims under the New York State and City Human Rights Laws, and the use of independent contractors to meet the four-person threshold under the City Law. From the…

Read More “Single Employer” Doctrine Held Inapplicable in Gender Discrimination Case
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In Cromwell-Gibbs v. Staybridge Suite Times Square, No. 16 CIV. 5169 (KPF), 2017 WL 2684063 (S.D.N.Y. June 20, 2017), the court dismissed plaintiff’s Title VII race-based hostile work environment claim. The facts, in sum: Plaintiff Merrill Cromwell-Gibbs, an African-American woman, is the former Director of Housekeeping at Defendant Staybridge Suites Times Square [] In 2015,…

Read More N-Word Email Insufficient to Create a Hostile Work Environment, Court Holds
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In Ananiadis v. Mediterranean Gyros Prods., Inc., 2017 NY Slip Op 05058 (N.Y. App. Div. 2d Dept. June 21, 2017), the court held that the lower court erred by dismissing plaintiffs’ aiding-and-abetting sexual harassment, and retaliation, claims under the New York State and City Human Rights Laws. The court summarized the plaintiffs’ allegations: The plaintiffs…

Read More NY Appellate Court Reinstates Sexual Harassment Claims; Explains Imposition of Individual Liability Under the State and City Human Rights Laws
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In Rubin v. Napoli Bern Ripka Shkolnik, LLP, 2017 NY Slip Op 05054 (App. Div. 1st Dept. June 20, 2017) – a gender discrimination lawsuit – the court unanimously affirmed the denial of defendant’s motion to amend his answer to assert counterclaims for defamation and defamation per se. From the decision: [D]efendant fails to state with particularity…

Read More Defamation Counterclaims Insufficiently Alleged in Gender Discrimination Suit Against Napoli Bern Firm
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In a recently-filed New York state court complaint, captioned Bardiovsky v. Byo Co. d/b/a EN Japanese Brasserie (NY Sup. Ct. NY Cty. 155558/2017 June 19, 2017), plaintiff alleges (inter alia) that “celebrity chef” Abe Hiroki “regularly made sexually suggestive comments to Plaintiff”, “told Plaintiff to touch a vegetable that he said looked like a vibrator”,…

Read More Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against EN Japanese Brasserie and “Celebrity Chef” Abe Hiroki
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In Gentleman v. State Univ. of N.Y.-Stony Brook, No. 16-CV-2012(ADS)(AKT), 2017 WL 2468963 (E.D.N.Y. June 6, 2017), the court held that plaintiff sufficiently alleged a claim of discrimination under the Rehabilitation Act. In sum, the court concluded that – applying the more lenient standard for “regarded as disabled” claims – plaintiff plausibly alleged that she “was…

Read More Plaintiff Plausibly Alleges “Regarded As” Disability Discrimination Claim Against SUNY
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In Barone v. Emmis Communications Corp., 2017 NY Slip Op 04787 (App. Div. 1st Dept. June 13, 2017), the court reversed the lower court’s order granting defendants’ motion for summary judgment on her gender discrimination claim. (I wrote about the lower court’s decision here.) The court wrote: As ostensibly nondiscriminatory reasons for terminating plaintiff, defendants pointed to…

Read More Gender Discrimination Claim Survives Summary Judgment; Issues of Fact Existed as to Pretext
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In Matter of Lozada v. Elmont Hook & Ladder Co. No. 1, 2017 NY Slip Op 04845 (N.Y. App. Div. 2d Dept. June 14, 2017), the court confirmed a determination by the New York State Division of Human Rights (NYSDHR) dismissing plaintiff’s sexual harassment claim as time-barred. The court summarized the law pertaining to administratively-filed hostile…

Read More NYSDHR Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment Claim Properly Dismissed as Time-Barred, Court Holds
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In Wooding v. Winthrop Univ. Hosp., No. 16-cv-4477, 2017 WL 2559942 (E.D.N.Y. June 12, 2017), the court held that plaintiff plausibly alleged a racially hostile work environment. It provides a summary/overview of the pleading standards for this type of claim: To establish a hostile work environment claim under federal and New York State law, a…

Read More Race-Based Hostile Work Environment Claim Sufficiently Alleged Against Winthrop University Hospital
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In Irrera v. University of Rochester, No. 16-2004, 2017 WL 2587324 (2d Cir. June 15, 2017), the Second Circuit held that the plaintiff – a piano student at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester – plausibly alleged a claim of retaliation for complaining of sexual harassment by his teacher (defendant Dr.…

Read More 2d Circuit Holds That Piano Student’s Title IX Retaliation Claim, Arising From Rejection of Teacher’s Sexual Advances, Was Plausibly Alleged
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