Sixty-four years ago, on December 1, 1955, a 42-year-old woman named Rosa Parks took a seat on a bus en route home from a department store where she worked as a seamstress. Ms. Parks defied a directive from the bus driver to vacate her seat so that white passengers boarding the bus could sit; her…
Read More Rosa Parks’ LegacyIn Doton v. City of Syracuse, 11-CV-620, 2019 WL 6337326 (NDNY Nov. 27, 2019), a gender discrimination case, the court ruled on various motions in limine with respect to evidence the parties seek to introduce at the upcoming trial. Among other issues addressed by the court, defendants sought to preclude Plaintiff from offering “me too” evidence “regarding…
Read More Court Discusses “Me Too” Evidence in Gender Discrimination CaseIn Hilsby v. Schultz, No. 21211/2012, 2019 WL 6248396, 2019 N.Y. Slip Op. 33395(U) (N.Y. Sup Ct, Suffolk County Nov. 15, 2019), the court, inter alia, dismissed plaintiff’s hostile work environment claim under the New York State Human Rights Law. The court summarized the law: “A hostile work environment exists where the workplace is ‘permeated…
Read More Hostile Work Environment Claim Dismissed; Secretary Reassignment and Alleged Anxiety/Fear InsufficientIn Buczakowski v. Crouse Health Hospital, Inc. et al, 18-cv-330, 2019 WL 6330206 (N.D.N.Y. Nov. 26, 2019), the court, inter alia, held that plaintiff sufficiently alleged a constructive discharge claim. The court’s analysis, briefly summarized below, follows and builds on its finding that plaintiff sufficiently alleged a hostile work environment (which I discussed here). The…
Read More Constructive Discharge Claims Sufficiently Alleged Against Crouse Health HospitalIn Buczakowski v. Crouse Health Hospital, Inc. et al, 18-cv-330, 2019 WL 6330206 (N.D.N.Y. Nov. 26, 2019), the court, inter alia, held that plaintiff sufficiently alleged a hostile work environment based on age and disability (cancer). After reciting the hostile work environment standard, the court held that plaintiff “established [defendant] and several of its employees…
Read More Age & Disability-Related Hostile Work Environment Claims Sufficiently Alleged Against Crouse Health HospitalIn Crawford v. ExlService.com, LLC et al, 16-cv-9137, 2019 WL 6284228 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 25, 2019), the court held that the former in-house counsel for defendant “is not categorically precluded from testifying on grounds of attorney-client privilege”, reasoning that “not all conversations between an attorney and a client are privileged.” The court noted that “[a]t trial,…
Read More Former In-House Counsel May Testify in Hostile Work Environment CaseIn Katsoolis v. Liquid Media Group, Ltd., 2019 WL 6050972 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 15, 2019), the court ruled on proposed amendments to plaintiff’s employment discrimination complaint under the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL). This case is instructive as to how courts assess complaints for facial sufficiency vis-a-vis the issue of discriminatory motive/intent in an…
Read More Proposed Gender Discrimination Claims Sufficiently Alleged Against Liquid Media GroupIn Jones v. Target Corporation, 2019 WL 6247900 (2d Cir. Nov. 22, 2019) (Summary Order), the court affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s Title VII retaliation claim. The court explained that “[r]etaliation claims under Title VII are evaluated under the familiar McDonnell Douglas three-step burden-shifting analysis” and “presume[d] that Jones has established a prima facie case…
Read More Retaliation Claim Dismissal Affirmed; Marijuana-Based Termination Not Shown to be PretextualIn a recent case, ANNA MARIE SCORSONELLI, Plaintiff, v. MADISON DENTISTRY, P.C., et al., Defendants., 2019 WL 6032787, at *1–2 (S.D.N.Y., 2019), the court, inter alia, held that plaintiff’s failure-to-accommodate-disability claim could continue. From the decision: A reasonable jury could likewise find that Defendants failed to accommodate Scorsonelli’s disability. Even if Scorsonelli’s daily requests for…
Read More Failure to Accommodate Disability, Retaliation Claims Survive Summary JudgmentIn Pozner v. Fox Broadcasting Co., No. 652096/2017, 2019 WL 6117960, 2019 N.Y. Slip Op. 33415(U) (N.Y. Sup Ct, New York County Nov. 18, 2019), the court dismissed plaintiff’s retaliation claim, which was based on the filing of a counterclaim by the defendant. Some background: The plaintiff (Pozner) worked was a Fox executive vice president.…
Read More Court Dismisses Retaliation Claim, Predicated on Counterclaim, Under the Noerr-Pennington Doctrine