… of 2021, is as follows: It has been quite a year; our first “full” one enduring the COVID-19 pandemic and the seemingly permanent changes it has wrought affecting, for example, (1) employment laws affecting the workplaces – and, necessarily, lives – of working New Yorkers (including vaccine and masking requirements), and (2) the initiation…
Read More Our Last Blog Post …In Roxanne Mongillo et al. v. Town Fair Tire Centers, Inc., NNHCV206107390, 2021 WL 5911661 (Conn. Super. Dec. 6, 2021), the court, inter alia, denied defendant’s motion to strike plaintiff’s claim of disability-based hostile work environment. From the decision: The plaintiff’s allegations of repeated verbal and physical abuse, when considered cumulatively, are sufficiently frequent, severe,…
Read More Hostile Work Environment Claim Sufficiently Alleged; Allegations Include Use of “Retard” SlurIn Petty v. Law Off. of Robert P. Santoriella, P.C., 2021 NY Slip Op 07527 (N.Y. App. Div. 1 Dept. Dec. 28, 2021), the court reversed the dismissal of plaintiff’s gender-based public accommodation discrimination claim, asserted under the New York State and City Human Rights Laws. From the decision: In this case, plaintiff made a…
Read More Gender-Based Public Accommodation Discrimination Claim Proceeds Against LawyerNew York is an “at will employment” state. In Winiarski v. Butler, 2021 NY Slip Op 07534 (N.Y. App. Div. 1st Dept. Dec. 28, 2021), the court unanimously affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s tort claims allegedly arising from plaintiff’s termination. It explained: New York does not recognize the tort of wrongful discharge for at-will employees, and…
Read More Terminated At-Will Employee’s Defamation, Tortious Interference Claims Properly DismissedIn Qorrolli v. Metropolitan Dental Associates, D.D.S. – 225 Broadway, P.C. et al, No. 18-cv-6836, 2021 WL 6064520 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 22, 2021), the court, inter alia, denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s sex-based hostile work environment (sexual harassment) claims. Plaintiff (a dental hygienist) asserts, in sum and among other things, that the male…
Read More Sex-Based Hostile Work Environment Claims Survive Summary Judgment Against Dental PracticeIn Diresta v. Biz2Credit Inc. et al, 21-cv-208, 2021 WL 6052104 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 20, 2021), the court, inter alia, dismissed plaintiff’s claim of age discrimination asserted under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967. From the decision: The Amended Complaint does not allege facts that either provide “minimal support for the proposition that the…
Read More Age Discrimination (Failure-to-Hire) Claim DismissedLet’s say, hypothetically, you are a burglar and decide to target a particular house owned by a family that will be away (overseas) for the Christmas holiday – i.e., for at least a week, without any indication that any of the family (let alone their 8 year-old son) is left Home Alone. So you and…
Read More Lime & Merchants v. McCallisterIn Coston v. Product Movers, 1990 WL 56516 (E.D.Pa. 1990), a copyright infringement action, the court held that the “idea of Santa Claus” is not protectible, and additionally provides us, via the legal mechanism of “judicial notice”, the following historical background: Pursuant to Fed.R.Evid. 201, I take judicial notice of the fact that Santa Claus…
Read More Court Takes Judicial Notice of Santa Claus’ HistoryIt’s December 23rd, a/k/a Christmas Eve Eve, a/k/a Festivus. So Happy Festivus! Festivus is a non-commercial holiday, begun in 1966 and celebrated on December 23, as an alternative to the pressures and commercialism of the Christmas/holiday season. A key component of the holiday is the “Airing of Grievances,” which takes place right after Festivus dinner…
Read More Air Your Grievances: Festivus and DiscriminationIn Crowley v. Billboard Magazine, No. 19-cv-7571, 2021 WL 6033608 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 21, 2021), the court granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment dismissing plaintiff’s claims of sexual orientation discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the New York State Human Rights Law, and the New York City Human Rights Law. This…
Read More Sexual Orientation Discrimination Claim Dismissed; Sending Sexually-Charged Messages Was Sufficient Reason For Termination, Notwithstanding That The Conduct Was Not Specifically Forbidden