Co-Worker Harassment

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In Carter v. Syracuse City School District, No. 15-2395, 2016 WL 3671631 (2d Cir. July 11, 2016) (Summary Order), an employment discrimination case, the Second Circuit vacated the district court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s discrimination and retaliation claims. Initially, the court held that the District Court incorrectly dismissed plaintiff’s State Human Rights Law claim because plaintiff…

Read More Second Circuit Revives Discrimination Claims Against School District; Discusses Title VII Pleading Standards for Discrimination and Retaliation Claims
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In Fisher v. Mermaid Manor Home for Adults, LLC, No. 14-CV-3461 (WFK)(JO), 2016 WL 3636021 (E.D.N.Y. June 29, 2016), the court denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s race/national origin-based hostile work environment claim. Plaintiff sued after being apprised by co-workers of an Instagram post which “consisted of two photographs of Plaintiff contrasted with a…

Read More Instagram “Planet of the Apes” Comparison Results in Denial of Summary Judgment in Race/National Origin Discrimination (Hostile Work Environment) Case
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In Alvarado v. Jeffrey, Inc., No. 14 CIV. 500 (NRB), 2016 WL 922216 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 4, 2016), the court dismissed claims by plaintiff – a gay Hispanic man and salesman at high-end fashion store Just Jeffrey – for race and sexual orientation discrimination, retaliation, and constructive discharge. In dismissing plaintiff’s hostile work environment claims, Judge…

Read More SDNY Dismisses Race & Sexual Orientation Discrimination, Hostile Work Environment, Retaliation, and Constructive Discharge Claims Against Just Jeffrey and Nordstrom
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In Garcia v. Yonkers Bd. of Educ., No. 15 CIV. 0767 (NSR), 2016 WL 3064116 (S.D.N.Y. May 27, 2016), the court granted in part and denied in part defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s sexual harassment and retaliation claims. In this case, plaintiff (a high school mathematics teacher) alleged in her federal court complaint that she…

Read More Math Teacher’s Retaliation Claim, Arising From Sexual Harassment Complaint, Survives Dismissal
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In Haight v. NYU Langone Med. Ctr., Inc., No. 13 CIV. 4993 (LGS), 2016 WL 29628 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 4, 2016), the Southern District of New York denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s sex-based hostile work environment (sexual harassment) and disability discrimination claims, but granted it with respect to her negligent supervision/retention claims. (2014…

Read More Pediatric Nurse’s Sexual Harassment and Disability Discrimination Claims Against NYU Langone Medical Center Survive Summary Judgment
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In Vasquez v. Empress Ambulance Serv., Inc., No. 14 CIV. 8387 NRB, 2015 WL 5037055 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 26, 2015), the court addressed the following question: [W]hether an employer is liable for unlawfully retaliating against a plaintiff employee when (1) the plaintiff reports that a coworker [here, Gray] has sexually harassed her, (2) the employer promptly…

Read More Court Discusses and Applies “Cat’s Paw” Theory in Sexual Harassment/Retaliation Case
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The recent Southern District of New York case of Amar v. New York City Health and Hospitals Corp., 14-cv-2503 (SDNY June 15, 2015) is instructive on pleading a hostile work environment claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In Amar, Judge Ramos held that the plaintiff, an African American woman employed by defendant as…

Read More Asserted Racial Epithets and Physical Threats Plausibly Allege Racially Hostile Work Environment
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The Southern District of New York recently denied defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint alleging sexual harassment, hostile work environment, and retaliation against Urban Outfitters. In Swiderski v. Urban Outfitters, 14-cv-6307, 2015 WL 3513088 (SDNY June 4, 2015), the court held that the plaintiff pleaded an actionable hostile work environment claim based on the conduct…

Read More Sexual Harassment/Hostile Work Environment Lawsuit (Based in Part on Customer Conduct) Against Urban Outfitters Continues
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In the disturbing case of Lent v. CCNH, Inc. d/b/a Cortland Care Center, 2015 WL 3463433 (NDNY June 1, 2015), the court held that plaintiff sufficiently alleged (hostile work environment) sexual harassment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the New York State Human Rights Law. Plaintiff alleged that her co-worker “cornered…

Read More Allegations of Rape by Co-Worker Sufficiently Allege Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment
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A recent decision, DeLaurencio v. Brooklyn Children’s Center, Superintendent (EDNY May 29, 2015), reiterates that Title VII is not a “general civility code” and that “[w]ork environments that are hostile for non-discriminatory reasons do not fall within the ambit of Title VII.” In this case, the court held that none of the allegations in plaintiff’s…

Read More Employment Discrimination / Hostile Work Environment Allegations Amounting to Rude Conduct Unmotivated by Discriminatory Animus Fail to State a Claim
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