In Kasperek v. New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, 16-cv-00671, 2019 WL 2240391 (W.D.N.Y. May 24, 2019), the court denied defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s claim of gender discrimination.
From the decision:
Plaintiff has adequately alleged a claim for sex discrimination. The amended complaint contains several allegations relevant to an adverse employment action. For example, Plaintiff alleges that she was no longer asked to serve as an Acting Supervisor for her department. Plaintiff also alleges that she felt unsafe at work, due to Defendant’s direction that male inmates clean up the graffiti on her door, her receipt of harassing and threatening phone calls, and Defendant’s refusal to take steps to remedy Plaintiff’s safety concerns. Finally, as a result of this conduct, Plaintiff alleges that she felt embarrassed and humiliated, experienced anxiety, missed work, and lost income.
These allegations – particularly those involving Defendant’s denial of leadership opportunities to Plaintiff, and Defendant’s failure to provide Plaintiff with a safe working environment – plainly constitute disruptions amounting to more than a mere inconvenience or an alteration in job responsibilities. Further, when considering Plaintiff’s allegations concerning an adverse employment action collectively, and in conjunction with the allegations substantiating Plaintiff’s hostile work environment claim, Plaintiff has plausibly alleged an adverse employment action.
[Cleaned up.]
The court concluded that “whether discovery will substantiate Plaintiff’s allegations of an adverse employment action remains to be seen, but Plaintiff has pled a plausible claim at the pleading stage of this action.”