In Amendola v. The City of New York, No. 501349/2023, 2024 WL 2155155 (N.Y. Sup Ct, Kings County May 13, 2024), the court denied defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s failure-to-accommodate disability discrimination claim.
From the decision:
Plaintiff has sufficiently pleaded that defendants failed to accommodate her disability under the City HRL. The Amended Complaint adequately alleges that defendants were aware of plaintiffs orthopedic disabilities, but that they failed to engage her in a good-faith interactive process to assess her needs and to seriously consider (rather than merely review on paper) her request for a shorter commute to work. See Aykac v City of NY, 221 AD3d 494, 495 (1st Dept 2023); Estate of Benitez v City of NY, 193 AD3d 42, 47-49 (1st Dept 2021), These allegations, coupled with plaintiff’s allegation that she would have continued serving with NYPD if her request for reasonable accommodation was actually granted (rather than merely on paper), are sufficient to state a cognizable claim for failure to accommodate her disability and to engage in a cooperative dialogue under the City HRL.
The court also held that plaintiff sufficiently alleged claims disparate treatment, hostile work environment, and retaliation in violation of the New York City Human Rights Law.