Employment Discrimination

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In a recent complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, Moore v. Despont Studios LLC et al, 15-cv-00619, plaintiff – an architect and former employee of Despont Studios LLC d/b/a The Office of Thierry W. Despont, Ltd. – asserts claims of gender discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, and retaliation. From her complaint: In stark contrast to its progressive…

Read More Lawsuit: Pregnancy/Gender Discrimination, FMLA Retaliation Allegations Against Despont Studios LLC d/b/a The Office of Thierry W. Despont, Ltd.
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In Santiago-Mendez v. City of New York, 2016 WL 416877 (N.Y. App. Div. 1st Dept. Feb. 4, 2016), the court held that plaintiff’s non-time-barred claims for race, national origin, and gender discrimination as against the City of New York and two individual defendants should not have been dismissed. Here is the Order appealed from; here is plaintiff’s complaint. From the…

Read More Decision: NYPD Detective’s Race, National Origin, and Gender Discrimination Claims Proceed
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In Telemaque v. Marriott International, No. 14 CIV. 6336 (ER), 2016 WL 406384 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 2, 2016), the court (among other things) dismissed plaintiff’s disability discrimination claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act because he failed to plausibly allege that he suffered a “disability” within the meaning of the statute. Plaintiff’s allegations, in sum: First,…

Read More Court Holds That Arthritis and High Blood Pressure Were Not “Disabilities” Under the ADA
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In Lago v. Wen Management Corp., 2016 WL 165834 (N.Y. Sup. Qns. Jan. 8, 2016), the court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment and dismissed plaintiff’s age discrimination, gender discrimination, and retaliation claims. The court held that plaintiff’s discrimination claims faltered at the first step of the analysis (i.e., he failed to demonstrate a prima…

Read More Replacement of Oldest Employee by Younger Employee Insufficient to Establish Age Discrimination
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In a recent decision in the case of Vale v. Great Neck Water Pollution Control District, 14-cv-4229 (E.D.N.Y. Jan. 8, 2016), a disability discrimination and retaliation case, the court denied the motion of a non-party – a person who had allegedly discriminated against other employees, but who never worked with or supervised plaintiff – to…

Read More Testimony of Non-Party Prior Employee (and Alleged Discrimination Victim) is Relevant in Disability Discrimination and Retaliation Case, Court Rules
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In Karam v. Cty. of Rensselaer, New York, 13-cv-1018, 2016 WL 51252 (N.D.N.Y. Jan. 4, 2016), the court (among other things) granted defendants’ motion dismissing plaintiff’s claim that he was subjected to a hostile work environment claim based on his Arab ancestry. It explained: [O]nly two statements concerning Plaintiff’s ancestry were made within the applicable statute…

Read More Court Dismisses Hostile Work Environment Claim Based on Arab Ancestry
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If a lawsuit is a house, then the complaint is its foundation. Buried in a footnote of Brannon v. City of New York, No. 09CV4335-LTS, 2016 WL 270399 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 21, 2016) is an important pleading point for employment discrimination cases – namely, that the failure to plead a particular theory of recovery (here, hostile work…

Read More Failure to Plead Hostile Work Environment Results in Dismissal of That Claim
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In Henry v. Morgan’s Hotel Grp., Inc., No. 15-CV-1789 (ER)(JLC), 2016 WL 303114 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 25, 2016) – a race and sexual orientation discrimination case – the court quashed subpoenas seeking documents from plaintiff’s prior employers. Specifically, the court quashed the subpoenas because they (1) failed to provide adequate notice, (2) would cause prejudice to plaintiff,…

Read More Court Quashes Subpoenas Seeking Documents Held By Discrimination Plaintiff’s Prior Employers
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In Koke v. Baumgardner, No. 15-CV-9673 (LAK), 2016 WL 93094 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 5, 2016), the court considered the applicability of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to claims of discrimination based on sexual orientation. Plaintiff sued in New York state court for alleged discrimination “because of her gender and her actual or…

Read More Federal Court Rejects Jurisdictional Challenge to Sexual Orientation Discrimination Case Brought Under Title VII
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In Penn v. The New York Methodist Hospital, No. 11-CV-9137 (NSR), 2016 WL 270456 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 20, 2016), the court dismissed plaintiff’s Title VII religion-based discrimination claim under the so-called”ministerial exception,” which operates at the intersection of anti-discrimination and First Amendment law. The ministerial exception, which is based on the Religion Clauses of the First…

Read More Court Dismisses Methodist Chaplain’s Religious Discrimination Claim Against Hospital Under the “Ministerial Exception”
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