Employment Discrimination

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The Southern District of New York’s recent decision in Robinson v. Vineyard Vines, LLC, No. 15CIV4972VBJCM, 2016 WL 845283 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 4, 2016) provides an example of how the work product doctrine operates in the context of an employment discrimination/sexual harassment case. In this case, plaintiff alleged that another employee “repeatedly sexually harassed her and…

Read More Investigative Documents in Sexual Harassment Case Were Protected as Work Product
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In a recent complaint, captioned Johnson v. J. Walter Thompson U.S.A., LLC et al, SDNY 16-cv-01805 filed March 10, 2016, plaintiff asserts various employment-related claims – including gender discrimination, race discrimination, hostile work environment, sexual harassment, and retaliation – against J. Walter Thompson and its Chair/CEO Gustavo Martinez. Among the disturbing allegations: Despite Johnson’s success as…

Read More Race/Gender Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, Hostile Work Environment, Retaliation Lawsuit Against J. Walter Thompson and Gustavo Martinez
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In Defran v. Transp Workers Union of Greater New York AFL-CIO, 2016 WL 740308 (N.Y.Sup.), 2016 N.Y. Slip Op. 30329(U), the court discussed and applied the “joint employer” doctrine in the context of an employment discrimination/sexual harassment/retaliation case. Plaintiff, a bus driver/union member who later became chairperson of her union (TWU/Local 100), alleged that she was…

Read More Plaintiff Sufficiently Alleges “Joint Employer” Status in Hostile Work Environment/Sexual Harassment Case
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In Matter of Belgrave v. City of New York, 2016 NY Slip Op 01548 (App. Div. 1st Dept. March 3, 2016), the First Department addressed an issue of first impression, namely whether a law enforcement agency (here the NYPD), may refuse to hire an applicant seeking employment with that agency as a civilian, without regard to…

Read More Felony Conviction Properly Barred 911 Dispatcher From NYPD Employment, Court Holds
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In Lai v. Deiorio Foods Inc., 2016 WL 814930 (NDNY Feb. 29, 2016), the court held that the (pro se) plaintiff plausibly alleged claims of employment discrimination and retaliation. Plaintiff, a Vietnam-born naturalized U.S. citizen, alleged that her Bosnian supervisor “discriminated [against], harassed, intimidated, and threatened her on a regular basis” and that she was constructively…

Read More Vietnamese Plaintiff Plausibly Alleges Employment Discrimination by Citing Examples of Bosnian Favoritism
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In Kennedy v. NYS, 14-CV-990S, NYLJ 1202751641711 (WDNY Mar. 3, 2016), the Western District of New York held that plaintiff – a member of NYS Assembly Member Dennis Gabryszak’s staff – plausibly alleged hostile work environment sexual harassment against Mr. Gabryszak under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and therefore denied defendants’ motion to dismiss under Fed. R. Civ.…

Read More Assembly Staff Member Sufficiently Alleges § 1983 Sexual Harassment Claim Against Dennis Gabryszak
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In Lott v. Coreone Techs., LLC, No. 14-CV-5848 (CM), 2016 WL 462486 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 2, 2016), plaintiff asserted age discrimination, disability discrimination, and retaliation claims against his former employer. The court granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment as to some of plaintiff’s claims (e.g., discriminatory failure to promote and discriminatory termination), but denied it as…

Read More Retaliatory Firing Claim Survives Dismissal in Light of Evidence that Reduction-in-Force Was Pretextual
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The New York State Division of Human Rights has released its “Guidance on Sexual Harassment For All Employers in New York State.” It provides, among other things: The provisions of the [New York State] Human Rights Law generally apply to employers with four or more employees. However, with regard specifically to sexual harassment, the Human…

Read More NYS Division of Human Rights Issues Guidance on Sexual Harassment to New York State Employers
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In Riddle v. Citigroup, 15-233-cv, a Second Circuit Summary Order issued today, the court held that the district court properly dismissed plaintiff’s retaliation claim for failure to state a claim. This Order is instructive on how courts evaluate a retaliation claim based on so-called “temporal proximity” between the alleged protected activity, on the one hand,…

Read More Retaliation Claim Properly Dismissed; Sixteen Months Was Too Long to Establish “Temporal Proximity”
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