In Reed v. Fortive Corporation et al, 2023 WL 4457908 (W.D.N.Y. July 11, 2023), the court, inter alia, dismissed plaintiff’s “quid pro quo” sexual harassment claim asserted under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
From the decision:
Here, Plaintiff alleges that her quid pro quo claim arises from her denial of McCauley’s sexual advances on August 21, 2019. However, the Court finds that the Amended Complaint fails to plausibly allege such a claim, mostly for the same reasons the Court gave when finding that Plaintiff had failed to plausibly plead that she engaged in protected activity on that date. That is, while Plaintiff makes conclusory assertions that McCauley made “wildly inappropriate sexual advances” toward her on August 21, 2019, which she rejected, the factual allegations in the pleading do not support that characterization. Again, the contention that a sexual advance was made is based on Plaintiff’s subjective characterization of circumstances that are just as consistent with innocent behavior. Nor, in any event, does the pleading plausibly connect such alleged rejection of McCauley’s advances to any adverse employment action.
Based on this, the court dismissed plaintiff’s “quid pro quo” sexual harassment claim.