In Young v. Edwin Gould Services for Children and Families, 2020 WL 4287164 (EDNY July 27, 2020), the court dismissed plaintiff’s federal age discrimination claim asserted under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) on statute-of-limitations grounds.
Plaintiff alleged, inter alia, that plaintiff’s supervisor (his former trainee) disrespected and lied abut plaintiff to others, that the day after plaintiff turned 66 years old his supervisors “threw him a surprise retirement party, with both birthday- and retirement-themed decorations hung on the walls” without his having given any indication that he was retiring, and that defendant laid off plaintiff that same day, despite their policy of laying off more recent hires first in the event of budget constraints.
Unfortunately, since it dismissed plaintiff’s claim on timeliness grounds, the court did not evaluate plaintiff’s age discrimination claim on the merits.
As to that issue, the court explained:
A claim may not be brought under the Age Discrimination Employment Act “until 60 days after a charge alleging unlawful discrimination has been filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.” 29 U.S.C. § 626(d)(1). Furthermore, where the alleged discrimination occurred in New York State, “[s]uch a charge shall be filed … within 300 days after the alleged unlawful practice occurred….” Id. § 626(d)(1)(B); Duplan v. City of New York, 888 F.3d 612, 621 n.7 (2d Cir. 2018).
Here, plaintiff alleges discriminatory treatment up to the day he was laid off, “right at [his] 66th birthday,” on July 7, 2017. However, he filed his charge and written complaint with the EEOC on March 27, 2019,1 628 days after the latest-most discriminatory conduct alleged in his complaint. Because plaintiff failed to timely file his charge with the EEOC, his ADEA claim must be dismissed.
Having dismissed plaintiff’s federal claim, the court dismissed plaintiff’s remaining claim under the New York City Human Rights Law under 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c)(3).