Employment Law

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In Mitzner v. royal Bank of Canada et al, 2017 WL 2152582 (N.Y.Sup.), 2017 N.Y. Slip Op. 31071(U) (Trial Order) (Sup. Ct. NY Cty. May 17, 2017) (J. Edwards), the court denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s claims of gender and pregnancy discrimination under the New York State and City Human Rights Laws. From…

Read More Gender/Pregnancy Discrimination Claims Against Royal Bank of Canada Survive Summary Judgment
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From Thygesen v. N. Bailey Volunteer Fire Co., No. 16-00775, 2017 WL 2491451, at *2 (N.Y. App. Div. June 9, 2017): [P]laintiff is not required to prove his claim to defeat summary judgment” (Ferrante, 90 N.Y.2d at 630). Rather, “[t]o defeat a properly supported motion for summary judgment in [a sexual orientation] discrimination case, plaintiff[ ]…

Read More Sexual Orientation Employment Discrimination Claim Survives Summary Judgment
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Today is the NYC Pride March, part of an annual celebration to commemorate the Stonewall Riots of 1969 – the event(s) that sparked the beginning of the modern Gay/LGBT Rights movement. Various laws protect employees against discrimination because of their sexual orientation. For example, the New York City Human Rights Law provides, in relevant part:…

Read More NYC Pride March 2017
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In Moraetis v. Evans, 2017 NY Slip Op 03451 (App. Div. 1st Dept. May 2, 2017), the court discussed the application of the “single employer” doctrine to plaintiff’s discrimination claims under the New York State and City Human Rights Laws, and the use of independent contractors to meet the four-person threshold under the City Law. From the…

Read More “Single Employer” Doctrine Held Inapplicable in Gender Discrimination Case
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In Cromwell-Gibbs v. Staybridge Suite Times Square, No. 16 CIV. 5169 (KPF), 2017 WL 2684063 (S.D.N.Y. June 20, 2017), the court dismissed plaintiff’s Title VII race-based hostile work environment claim. The facts, in sum: Plaintiff Merrill Cromwell-Gibbs, an African-American woman, is the former Director of Housekeeping at Defendant Staybridge Suites Times Square [] In 2015,…

Read More N-Word Email Insufficient to Create a Hostile Work Environment, Court Holds
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In Ananiadis v. Mediterranean Gyros Prods., Inc., 2017 NY Slip Op 05058 (N.Y. App. Div. 2d Dept. June 21, 2017), the court held that the lower court erred by dismissing plaintiffs’ aiding-and-abetting sexual harassment, and retaliation, claims under the New York State and City Human Rights Laws. The court summarized the plaintiffs’ allegations: The plaintiffs…

Read More NY Appellate Court Reinstates Sexual Harassment Claims; Explains Imposition of Individual Liability Under the State and City Human Rights Laws
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In Rubin v. Napoli Bern Ripka Shkolnik, LLP, 2017 NY Slip Op 05054 (App. Div. 1st Dept. June 20, 2017) – a gender discrimination lawsuit – the court unanimously affirmed the denial of defendant’s motion to amend his answer to assert counterclaims for defamation and defamation per se. From the decision: [D]efendant fails to state with particularity…

Read More Defamation Counterclaims Insufficiently Alleged in Gender Discrimination Suit Against Napoli Bern Firm
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In a recently-filed New York state court complaint, captioned Bardiovsky v. Byo Co. d/b/a EN Japanese Brasserie (NY Sup. Ct. NY Cty. 155558/2017 June 19, 2017), plaintiff alleges (inter alia) that “celebrity chef” Abe Hiroki “regularly made sexually suggestive comments to Plaintiff”, “told Plaintiff to touch a vegetable that he said looked like a vibrator”,…

Read More Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against EN Japanese Brasserie and “Celebrity Chef” Abe Hiroki
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In Gentleman v. State Univ. of N.Y.-Stony Brook, No. 16-CV-2012(ADS)(AKT), 2017 WL 2468963 (E.D.N.Y. June 6, 2017), the court held that plaintiff sufficiently alleged a claim of discrimination under the Rehabilitation Act. In sum, the court concluded that – applying the more lenient standard for “regarded as disabled” claims – plaintiff plausibly alleged that she “was…

Read More Plaintiff Plausibly Alleges “Regarded As” Disability Discrimination Claim Against SUNY
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In Barone v. Emmis Communications Corp., 2017 NY Slip Op 04787 (App. Div. 1st Dept. June 13, 2017), the court reversed the lower court’s order granting defendants’ motion for summary judgment on her gender discrimination claim. (I wrote about the lower court’s decision here.) The court wrote: As ostensibly nondiscriminatory reasons for terminating plaintiff, defendants pointed to…

Read More Gender Discrimination Claim Survives Summary Judgment; Issues of Fact Existed as to Pretext
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