Employment Discrimination

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In Rock v. Blaine, 2015 WL 3795886 (NDNY June 17, 2015), the court denied defendant State of New York’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s retaliation claim against it. Plaintiff, a corrections officer, sued the State of New York and three individuals under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, alleging retaliation for making a…

Read More Female Corrections Officer Sufficiently Alleges Retaliation Against the State of New York
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Here is the sexual harassment / hostile work environment federal court lawsuit, captioned Castelgrande v. Elie Tahari, Ltd. and Elie Tahari, SDNY 15-cv-04564, filed on June 16, 2015. Plaintiff alleges that the defendant(s) fired her two hours after she complained about sexual harassment, namely, Mr. Tahari’s attempt, while plaintiff was standing in a room with workers,…

Read More Sexual Harassment / Hostile Work Environment Lawsuit Against Elie Tahari
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A recent state appellate decision, Cohen v. State of New York (App. Div. 2nd Dept. June 17, 2015), explains an employer’s duties regarding a requested accommodation for a disability under the New York State Human Rights Law. In Cohen, the Appellate Division, Second Department reversed the lower court’s grant of summary judgment to defendant on plaintiff’s…

Read More Rejection of Accommodation Request Results in Reversal of Summary Judgment for Defendant in Disability Discrimination Case
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On June 12, 2015, a federal jury awarded plaintiff Augustina Balu $300,000 in compensatory damages, and $25,000 in punitive damages, in her sexual harassment / hostile work environment lawsuit against the City of New York and NYPD employee Denis McAuliffe. Here is the jury’s verdict sheet in the case, captioned Balu v. City of New York et…

Read More Jury Awards $325K (Including Punitive Damages) to Plaintiff in Sexual Harassment / Hostile Work Environment Lawsuit Against the NYPD
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In Catapano-Fox v. City of New York, No. 14 CIV. 8036 KPF, 2015 WL 3630725 (S.D.N.Y. June 11, 2015), the Southern District of New York denied defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s claim that she was fired in retaliation for complaining about sexual harassment. This decision provides a good overview of the legal principles governing the proper…

Read More Retaliation Claim, Based on Termination in Response to Sexual Harassment Complaints, May Proceed
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In a somewhat unusual departure from my typical blog posts, this one is about a cease-and-desist letter addressed to me personally. The letter (here, with selected exhibits and below), from Florida lawyer Casey Cummings of Florida law firm Kenner & Cummings PLLC, asserts that a blog post I published on June 3, 2014 is “defamatory”, asks me “kindly” to take…

Read More My Response to a Cease-and-Desist Letter
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Here is the complaint, captioned Andre v. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center et al, 15-cv-04557 (SDNY June 11, 2015), in which the female plaintiff alleges, among other things, that her female supervisor sexually harassed her and fired her in retaliation for engaging in protected activity.  

Read More Same-Sex Sexual Harassment, Pregnancy Discrimination, and Retaliation Lawsuit Against Memorial Sloan Kettering
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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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