Employment Discrimination

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In Matter of Gascon (decided May 29, 2014), the Appellate Division, Third Department, upheld a decision by the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board that the claimant was entitled to receive unemployment insurance benefits. In this case, the claimant asserted that she “quit due to persistent and escalating sexual harassment by her supervisor, the owner” of her employer.…

Read More Court Upholds Unemployment Benefits Where Claimant Quit Due to Sexual Harassment
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In Smith v. Town of Hempstead (decided May 15, 2014), the Eastern District of New York held that plaintiff stated claims for sexual harassment/hostile work environment under Title VII, and a claim for municipal liability under 42 USC 1983. Plaintiff worked as a Community Research Assistant in the Town’s Clerk’s Office and claimed that she was subjected…

Read More Town Clerk States Claims For Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment and Municipal Liability Under Section 1983
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The court’s decision in Garrigan v. Ruby Tuesday, 14-cv-155 (S.D.N.Y. May 22, 2014) illustrates the important distinctions between pleading employment discrimination claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the much broader New York City Human Rights Law. Plaintiff claimed that she was harassed in the workplace because she would not…

Read More Plaintiff Successfully Pleads Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Under NYC Human Rights Law
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Happy Memorial Day. According to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs website, Memorial Day commemorates those who died in military service. It is a day of remembrance and reflection. Keep in mind that there are laws, such as the Family and Medical Leave Act, that provide protections to family members of military members. The New York…

Read More Happy Memorial Day!
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Below is the complaint filed on May 12, 2014 in the Southern District of New York by television writer/producer and professor Mollie Fermaglich against New York University and others. The lawsuit is captioned Mollie Fermaglich v. New York University et al., 1:14-cv-03434, and has been assigned to Judge Engelmayer. Ms. Fermaglich, who is Jewish, asserts (among other things)…

Read More NYU Professor and TV Writer/Producer Mollie Fermaglich’s Federal Discrimination Suit Against NYU
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Kosarin-Ritter v. Mrs. John L. Strong, LLC, decided by the First Department on May 22, 2014, illustrates the often difficult burden encountered by a discrimination plaintiff. In affirming the trial court’s grant of summary judgment for defendants, the court stated: Defendants established that there is no evidentiary route that could allow a jury to believe…

Read More Alleged Ageist Remarks Insufficient to Support Discrimination Claim
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In Lehman v. Bergmann Associates (decided March 31, 2014), the Western District of New York held that plaintiff adequately pleaded some, but not other, employment discrimination claims. The case provides a good review of federal pleading standards for various employment-related claims. Plaintiff alleged that she was the first woman to hold a senior management position at…

Read More Court Provides Guidance on Pleading Employment Discrimination Claims
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The Appellate Division, First Department held, in Walzer v. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (decided May 13, 2014), that plaintiff’s gender discrimination claims should not have been dismissed: Applying the liberal pleading standards applicable to employment discrimination claims under the State and City Human Rights Law, plaintiff has stated causes of action for violations of the Human…

Read More First Department Reinstates Gender Discrimination Claims
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In Kaplan v. NYC Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene (NY Sup. Ct. Kings Cty. Index No. 506658-2013), the court dismissed plaintiff’s sexual harassment and retaliation claims – asserted under the NYC Human Rights Law – arising from a male boss’s masturbating in front of his female subordinate. Plaintiff alleged that, at the beginning of a training…

Read More Male Boss Masturbating in Front of Female Subordinate Was Merely a “Trivial Inconvenience”, and Hence Not Sexual Harassment, Court Rules
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The New York Court of Appeals held, in Webb-Weber v. Community Action for Human Servs., Inc. (decided May 13, 2014) that plaintiff adequately stated a claim under New York’s Whistleblower Law, Labor Law § 740(2)(a). That statute provides, in pertinent part: An employer shall not take any retaliatory personnel action against an employee because such employee … discloses,…

Read More Court of Appeals Broadly Interprets New York’s General Whistleblower Statute, Labor Law § 740
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