Employment Law

In Anderson v. NYC Health and Hospitals (Coney Island Hospital), 2019 WL 1765221 (E.D.N.Y. April 22, 2019), the court, inter alia, held that plaintiff failed to state a claim for hostile work environment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It summarized the (well-established) law as follows: In order to prevail on…

Read More Hostile Work Environment Claim Dismissed; Amended Complaint Failed to Allege Specifics
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In Kaplan-DiNola v. NYC Dept. of Education, 2019 WL 1779601 (S.D.N.Y. April 23, 2019) – a sexual orientation discrimination case – the court denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s employment discrimination claims. In this case, plaintiff, a teacher who describes herself as “homosexual”, alleges (inter alia) that throughout her tenure as teacher at P.S.…

Read More Teacher’s Sexual Orientation Discrimination Claim Against the NYC Dept. of Education Survives Dismissal
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In Torres v. City of New York, 2019 WL 1765223 (S.D.N.Y. April 22, 2019), the court, inter alia, dismissed plaintiff’s employment discrimination and hostile work environment claims. From the decision: The Complaint describes two incidents in which Chu made disparaging remarks in Plaintiff’s presence over the course of two years. The first incident occurred in…

Read More Court Dismisses NYPD Officer’s Discrimination, Hostile Work Environment Claims
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On Monday, April 22, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in several cases – including Altitude Express, Inc. et al v. Zarda, Melissa, et al. (17-1623), which originated in the Second Circuit. The Question Presented in the Zarda case, as set forth in that case’s certiorari petition (which I wrote about here) is: Whether…

Read More SCOTUS Agrees to Hear Title VII Sexual Orientation Discrimination Case
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In Shojae v. Harlem Hosp. Ctr. et al., 18-392-cv (Summary Order), the court, inter alia, vacated the dismissal of plaintiff’s discrimination claims. From the Order: As to Shojae’s timely NYCHRL discrimination claims with respect to certain adverse actions, it appears that Shojae provided at least some admissible evidence that she was treated “less well” based…

Read More Gender/Race/National Origin Discrimination Claims Continue Against Harlem Hospital Center
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In Fields v The Dept. of Educ. of the City of New York, No. 154283/2016, 2019 WL 1580151, at *3, 2019 N.Y. Slip Op. 30955(U) (N.Y. Sup Ct, New York County Apr. 12, 2019), the court dismissed plaintiff’s hostile work environment claim because it was not included in plaintiff’s Notice of Claim, and therefore plaintiff…

Read More Hostile Work Environment, Discrimination Claims Dismissed Against NYC Dept. of Education
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From Morales v. Bottling Group, LLC, 16-cv-6597L, 16-cv-6600L, 2019 WL 1593418 (W.D.N.Y. April 15, 2019): Morales fails to demonstrate that any of the alleged conduct was racially motivated. Regarding Flaherty’s “verbal insult,” Morales’s own testimony suggests he did not perceive it to be racially motivated at the time, (Dkt. # M31-5 at 27) (explaining that…

Read More Hostile Work Environment Claim Dismissed; “Job Criticism” Insufficient
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In Moza v. NYC Health and Hospitals Corp., No. 17-1051-cv, 2019 WL 1594782 (2d Cir. April 15, 2019) (Summary Order), the Second Circuit vacated the lower court’s order granting summary judgment on plaintiff’s race/ethnicity/national origin discrimination claims. After the court summarized the 3-step McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework for analyzing discrimination claims (the so-called “pretext” approach),…

Read More Pretext Shown; Race Discrimination Case Resurrected From Summary Judgment
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From Felder v. United States Tennis Association, 2019 WL 1517511, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. April 8, 2019): To succeed on a hostile work environment claim, a plaintiff must show that “the workplace was so severely permeated with discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, and insult that the terms and conditions of her employment was thereby altered.” Alfano v. Costello,…

Read More Hostile Work Environment Claim Dismissed; Doctrine Inapplicable Where Plaintiff Was Not Hired
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