2017

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Happy Valentine’s Day! While this holiday of (ahem) love may bring back fond memories of grade-school card and candy swapping, it’s important to remember that bringing romance into the workplace – even (or maybe especially) on Valentine’s Day – presents risks, most notably of a sexual harassment/hostile work environment lawsuit. Consider, for example, the case of Pugni…

Read More Valentine’s Day and the Workplace
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In In the Matter of Shannon Scheuneman v. NYS Div. of Human Rights and Town of Tonawanda, No. TP 16-00820, 2017 WL 539266 (N.Y. App. Div. 4th Dept. Feb. 10, 2017), the Appellate Division unanimously confirmed, under N.Y. Executive Law § 298, a determination by the New York State Division of Human Rights that the…

Read More Allegation of “Anti-Female Bias” Insufficient to Overturn State Division of Human Rights Dismissal of Gender Discrimination Claim
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In Chernov v. Securities Training Corp., 2017 NY Slip Op 00126 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Jan. 10, 2017), an employment (disability) discrimination case, the Appellate Division, First Department unanimously reversed a lower court’s order granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment dismissing plaintiff’s complaint. From the decision: Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to plaintiff, the…

Read More Disability Discrimination Claims Revived in Light of Fact Issues as to Whether Employer Should Have Known of Disabling Anxiety Condition
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In Ciulla-Noto v. Xerox Corp., No. 16-CV-6362-FPG, 2017 WL 491688 (W.D.N.Y. Feb. 7, 2017), the court dismissed plaintiff’s retaliation claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim. In sum, plaintiff filed an EEOC charge alleging disability and gender discrimination. About a year later, plaintiff was involved in an altercation with…

Read More Court Dismisses Retaliation Claim; Termination Closely Followed Plaintiff’s Involvement in Altercation at Work
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In Sheng v. M&TBank Corp., No. 14-4467-CV, 2017 WL 443641 (2d Cir. Feb. 2, 2017), a pregnancy discrimination case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that the defendant/employer’s offer to reinstate the plaintiff/employee was conditioned on plaintiff dropping her lawsuit, and was therefore inadmissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 408. In…

Read More 2d Circuit: Reinstatement Offer Conditioned on Foregoing Pregnancy Discrimination Case Should Have Been Excluded; Defense Verdict Overturned
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In Lee v. Carolyn Colvin, Acting Comm’r of Soc. Sec., Defendant., No. 15 CIV. 1472 (KPF), 2017 WL 486944 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 6, 2017), the court held that plaintiff – a federal employee – sufficiently alleged a retaliation claim under the Rehabilitation Act.[1]The court dismissed several of plaintiff’s other claims, including those for hostile work environment…

Read More Plaintiff States Retaliation Claim Under Rehabilitation Act; Alleged Adverse Actions Include Transfer to Broken Desk and Failure to Promote
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In Schwarz v. Consolidated Edison, Inc., 2017 NY Slip Op 00927 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Feb. 7, 2017), the First Department affirmed the lower court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s employment discrimination complaint. In this case, plaintiff “alleges that defendant Consolidated Edison, Inc. [] denied him employment based on his 2002 perjury conviction, and prior assault-related convictions, which subsequently were…

Read More First Department Affirms Dismissal of “Conviction Discrimination” Claim By Former NYPD Officer Involved in Abner Louima Case
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In United States v. N.Y. City Dep’t of Educ., No. 16-cv-4291, 2017 WL 435940 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 31, 2017), an employment (race) discrimination case asserted by New York City teachers, the court recommended that defendants’ motion to dismiss be granted and denied in part. The plaintiff-teachers alleged that the principal of Pan American International High School (PAIHS),…

Read More Court Cites and Applies the Doctrine of “Constructive Involuntary Transfer” in Teachers’ Race Discrimination Case Against the New York City Department of Education
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