In Carrion v. City of New York, the Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed a summary judgment for plaintiff on his claim under Labor Law § 240(1). Plaintiff “allegedly was standing on an extension ladder that had been placed atop a scaffold when the scaffold unexpectedly tipped away from a wall, causing him to fall to the…
Read More Falling Worker Succeeds on Labor Law § 240(1) ClaimIn Smith v. Town of Hempstead Dept. of Sanitation Sanitary District No. 2, decided November 16, 2013, the Eastern District of New York discussed the application of the Supreme Court’s recent Nassar decision in the context of a summary judgment motion. Nassar modified the standard for proving retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of…
Read More Plaintiff Presented Sufficient Evidence of Retaliation to Survive Summary Judgment Under New “But For” Causation StandardIn Pelletier v. Lahm, decided November 20, 2013, the Appellate Division, Second Department upheld the trial court’s decision to instruct the jury as to the “emergency doctrine” and the resulting jury verdict for defendant Brittany Lahm in connection with a fatal car crash. Specifically, it affirmed the trial court’s denial of plaintiff’s motion, pursuant to CPLR…
Read More Emergency Doctrine Properly Applied to Exonerate Driver Brittany Lahm in “Bikini Top” Fatal Car Accident CaseWhat does it mean to have a lot of Facebook friends? According to one federal judge, not much. In In re Air Crash Near Clarence Ctr., WDNY 09-md-2085 (Nov. 18, 2013), which arose from the February 12, 2009 crash of Flight 3407, defendant sought production of the Facebook “friend list” of Kevin Guo. Kevin, whose father died in…
Read More Your (Facebook) Friends Are IrrelevantIn Stoler v. Institute for Integrative Nutrition, the Southern District of New York held that plaintiffs adequately pled claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL). Defendants moved to dismiss plaintiffs’ claims under FRCP…
Read More Pointing to “Maternity Projection Chart”, Court Finds That Plaintiffs Sufficiently Alleged FMLA and Retaliation Claims Based on Unfair Treatment Due to Pregnancy and Maternity Leave RequestsIn Diaz v. 5-01-5-17 48th Avenue, LLC, the Second Department recently reversed a denial of summary judgment for plaintiff, and found that plaintiff established his entitlement to summary judgment, on his claim under New York Labor Law § 240(1). Initially, the court held that “no triable issue of fact existed as to the defendants’ ownership or…
Read More Fall From Collapsing, Unsecured Ladder Results in Summary Judgment for Plaintiff Worker in Labor Law § 240(1) CaseHere is the complaint recently filed in New York state court by plaintiffs Jeanette Grullon, Jenny Mejia, and Sandra Pozo against Catholic Charities Neighborhood Services, Inc. Plaintiff allege that they were “sexually harassed by their African-American male supervisor at Catholic Charities, where they were employed. When they complained about the sexual harassment, they were intimidated and accused…
Read More Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Catholic Charities Neighborhood ServicesBelow and here is the complaint filed in New York state court on Wednesday by yoga instructor Dilek Edwards against Charles V. Nicolai and Stephanie Adams. Plaintiff alleges that defendants fired plaintiff, allegedly because Ms. Adams was jealous of plaintiff’s working relationship with her husband (Nicolai). It also alleges that, as a result of a complaint…
Read More Yoga Instructor’s Sexual Harassment and Gender Discrimination Complaint Against Charles Nicolai and Stephanie AdamsIn Barenboim v. Starbucks, the Second Circuit (by Summary Order) yesterday held that Starbucks shift supervisors are not precluded by New York Labor Law § 196-d from sharing in tips. The decision follows the New York Court of Appeals’ decision this summer that answered a certified question regarding the interpretation of that statute. The New York…
Read More Starbucks Shift Supervisors May Share in TipsIn Freeman v. City of New York (decided November 20, 2013), the Appellate Division, Second Department held that plaintiff failed to state a claim for relief. Plaintiff alleged that her mother Yvonne Freeman died after the December 27, 2010 blizzard because defendants “were negligent in failing to provide emergency services, and in failing to prepare for,…
Read More Trial Court Should Have Dismissed Blizzard Death Lawsuit Due to Absence of “Special Relationship”