In Matter of Thuy Pham (Sperber, Denenberg & Kahan, PC–Commissioner of Labor), 2019 NY Slip Op 08907 (App. Div. 3d Dept. Dec. 12, 2019), the court upheld the dismissal of the claimant’s claim for unemployment benefits, finding that she did not voluntarily leave with “good cause.” Claimant – an attorney and associate at a law…
Read More Unemployment Denial Upheld; Claimant Did Not Voluntarily Leave With “Good Cause”In Sripirom v. Rivers Casino and Resort, 2019 WL 6711387 (NDNY Dec. 10, 2019), the court adopted a Report and Recommendation dismissing plaintiff’s employment discrimination claim. The court recited the well-known rule that “[g]enerally, to satisfactorily plead a claim of employment discrimination under Title VII [of the Civil Rights Act of 1964], absent direct evidence…
Read More #%@&! Termination for Swearing Insufficient to State Discrimination ClaimIn Wilson v. Lenox Hill Hospital/Northwell Health, 2019 WL 6726304 (E.D.N.Y. Dec. 11, 2019), the court, inter alia, dismissed plaintiff’s retaliation claims asserted under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The court summarized the law as follows (internal quotation marks and citations omitted; paragraphing altered):…
Read More Retaliation Claims Dismissed; Anonymous Complaint InsufficientIn Wiggins v. The Garden City Golf Club, 2019 WL 6716750 (EDNY Dec. 10, 2019), the court, inter alia, held that plaintiff did not make out a race-based hostile work environment claim. Plaintiff (who is black), who worked for defendant as a caddy, claimed that he was subject to discrimination when a white employee placed…
Read More Race Discrimination Claim Dismissed; “Crude” etc. Conduct Was Not DiscriminatoryIn Stephens v. Isabella Geriatric Ctr., Inc., 2019 NY Slip Op 08795 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Dec. 10, 2019), the court unanimously affirmed the dismissal, by summary judgment, of plaintiff’s retaliation claims under the New York State and City Human Rights Laws. In this case, plaintiff alleged that he was terminated from his employment at…
Read More First Department Affirms Dismissal of Retaliation Claim Against Isabella Geriatric CenterIn Lenzi v. Systemax, Inc., No. 18-979, 2019 WL 6646630 (2d Cir. Dec. 6, 2019), the court, inter alia, reinstated plaintiff’s claims – dismissed below by summary judgment – of pay discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, and retaliation claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In sum, plaintiff alleged that defendants paid her…
Read More 2d Circuit Revives Title VII Pay Discrimination ClaimIn Ellison v. Chartis Claims, Inc., 2019 NY Slip Op 08654 (App. Div. 2d Dept. Dec. 4, 2019), the court, inter alia, affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s race discrimination claim. The court summarized the law of discrimination under the New York City Human Rights Law: Under the NYCHRL, unlawful discrimination must play “no role” in…
Read More Court Affirms Dismissal of NYCHRL Discrimination ClaimIn Francis v. Kings Park Manor, Inc., No. 15-1823-cv, 2019 WL 6646495 (2d Cir. Dec. 6, 2019), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit resurrected plaintiff’s claims of race discrimination (under, inter alia, the Fair Housing Act), arising from plaintiff’s being subjected, by his next-door neighbor, to “a brazen and relentless campaign of…
Read More Fair Housing Act Covers Tenant-on-Tenant Racial Harassment, 2d Circuit HoldsIn Jean-Pierre v. Citizen Watch Company of America, Inc., 18-CV-0507, 2019 WL 5887479 (S.D.N.Y., 2019), the court – invoking the principle that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is not a “general civility code for the American workplace” – dismissed plaintiff’s discrimination claims. It summarized the law in this regard: In determining…
Read More Discrimination Claims Dismissed; While “Inappropriate”, Comments Were Non-ActionableIn Katz v. The New York Historical Society, 19-CV-8637, 2019 WL 6529325 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 3, 2019), the court dismissed plaintiff’s age discrimination complaint, which it construed as asserting claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA). As to the substantive law, the court explained: The ADEA makes it unlawful for an employer…
Read More Age Discrimination: A Dismissal and Some Judicial Guidance for the Amended Complaint