Failure to Plead “Disability” Dooms “Cooperative Dialogue” Claim Under NYC Human Rights Law

In Tarantul v. New York City Health and Hospitals Corp., No. 159425/2020, 2022 WL 159587 (N.Y. Sup Ct, New York County Jan. 18, 2022), the court, inter alia, granted defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s claim that defendant failed to engage in a cooperative dialogue, pertaining to an alleged disability, in violation of the New York City Human Rights Law. (The court denied defendant’s motion to dismiss, and held that plaintiff sufficiently alleged, claims of caregiver-status discrimination and retaliation.)

The law, specifically NYCHRL § 8-107(28), provides, in relevant part:

It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to refuse or otherwise fail to engage in a cooperative dialogue within a reasonable time with a person who has requested an accommodation or who the covered entity has notice may require such an accommodation related to disability. [Cleaned up.]

Here, the court held that since plaintiff failed to plead that she has a “disability” under the NYCHRL, this claim must be dismissed.

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