The Second Circuit, in Isabella v. Koubek, recently certified a question to the New York Court of Appeals involving an apparent conflict between two statutes: Section 29(6) of New York’s Workers’ Compensation Law, which provides that workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy of an employee injured by his co-employee’s negligence, and Section 388 of New…
Read More When Cars, and Laws, CollideIn St. Jean v. Orient-Express Hotels, decided August 7, 2013, the Southern District of New York explained when an entity that is not the plaintiff’s “direct” employer is nevertheless liable for violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The court held that plaintiff adequately alleged that the defendant, while not her…
Read More Recent Decision Clarifies “Joint” and “Single” Employer LiabilityA recent SDNY decision, Stein v. Guardsmark LLC, explains how employers may comply with the “fluctuating workweek” method of paying overtime. Plaintiff Esther Stein served as the secretary to the president (defendant Ira A. Lipman) of defendant Guardsmark, which provides private security services. She claimed that she was denied overtime premiums to which she was…
Read More Court Rules That Defendant Correctly Paid Plaintiff Under the “Fluctuating Workweek” MethodBelow is the complaint recently filed by plaintiff John Gorman against Coviden Sales, LLC and Dale Kelly. Plaintiff alleges that he was treated unfairly and subjected to discrimination based on his disability, namely, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Specifically, plaintiff claims that after telling defendant Kelly that he is a Navy Veteran who served in Operation Desert Storm and…
Read More PTSD Disability Discrimination LawsuitA recent Second Circuit decision, Dejesus v. HF Management Services, illustrates how detailed a federal complaint must be to sufficiently allege overtime violations under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the New York Labor Law. The court upheld the dismissal of plaintiff’s complaint because she did not “plausibly allege that she worked overtime without…
Read More Second Circuit Holds FLSA Overtime Allegations Insufficiently PledIn Shane v. Supervova New York Realty LLC (NY Sup. July 8, 2013), a stairway trip-and-fall case, the court denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment, finding triable issues of fact as to whether an outside stairway defect was “trivial”. Plaintiff, a guest at a NYC Sheraton Hotel, tripped on the stairs ascending to the landing leading…
Read More Court Finds Issues of Fact as to Whether 0.5-Inch Defect Was a “Trap” or Snare” and Hence Not “Trivial”Today Judge Scheindlin found the City of New York liable, under Section 1983 and Monell v. Dept. of Social Services of the City of New York, for violating plaintiffs’ constitutional rights in connection with its stop-and-frisk program. (Gothamist article here.) Her 198-page opinion (which mercifully has a table of contents) setting forth her findings of fact and conclusions…
Read More Floyd Plaintiffs Win Stop-and-Frisk CaseIn Woo v. United Nations Intl. School, 2013 NY Slip Op 51167(U) (N.Y. Sup. Ct. July 11, 2013), the court dismissed a personal injury action brought by a high school baseball player. Plaintiff Woo was injured when, as he was preparing to catch a ball thrown by plaintiff’s teammate DeRosa, the ball “glanced off the outer portion…
Read More High School Baseball Player Assumed Risk of Injury; Complaint DismissedIn a striking victory for free speech, a Manhattan trial court judge recently dismissed a lawsuit brought by TriBeCa residents against photographer Arne Svenson after he surreptitiously photographed them in their homes and used the photos in an art exhibit called “The Neighbors”. Judge Rakower’s August 5, 2013 opinion dismissing the case in Foster v.…
Read More Citing Free Speech, Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Photographer Who Took Secret Pictures of NeighborsIn Albano v. Stein, a rear-end collision case, a Brooklyn trial court denied summary judgment to defendants on the issues of liability, serious injury, and causation. There, plaintiff Albano’s car was struck from behind by a car owned by Atkins and driven by Stein: Ms. Albano was either backing or had just backed her vehicle…
Read More Brooklyn Car Accident Case Survives Summary Judgment on Liability and “Serious Injury” Threshold