Proving employment discrimination is no easy task. Over time, courts have developed an analytical method for evaluating such claims. Proving Employment Discrimination With “Indirect” or “Circumstantial” Evidence When a plaintiff alleges employment discrimination based on indirect, or circumstantial, evidence, courts employ the “burden-shifting” framework set out in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792…
Read More Proving Employment DiscriminationIn a recent complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, captioned Allen v. Goldman Sachs, SDNY 17-cv-6195 (filed 8/16/17), plaintiff Rebecca Allen – a member of Goldman’s Private Wealth Management Division – alleges (inter alia) that “[a]s a result of [a] pattern and practice of discriminatory conduct, the few Black employees at the Bank are marginalized and…
Read More Race Discrimination Lawsuit Against Goldman SachsIn Jenkins v. NYC Transit Authority, 2017 WL 3207093 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Index 153761/13 July 28, 2017), the court denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiffs’ sexual harassment/hostile work environment claims under the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL). Plaintiffs, three female bus operators employed by the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating…
Read More Bus Operators’ Sexual Harassment/Hostile Work Environment Claims Survive Summary JudgmentIn Roa v. Staples, Inc., 2017 WL 3425779 (SDNY Aug. 9, 2017), the court denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment dismissing plaintiff’s disability discrimination claim. Although it was undisputed that defendant terminated plaintiff based on the belief that plaintiff stole another employee’s bag of chips, the court held that plaintiff provided enough evidence of discriminatory…
Read More Disability Discrimination Claim Against Staples Survives Summary JudgmentIn Sosa v. Rockland County Community College, 2017 WL 3105872 (SDNY July 20, 2017), the court dismissed plaintiff’s national origin discrimination (failure to promote) claim. “To establish a prima facie case of race or national origin discrimination under Title VII, a plaintiff must show that: (1) [s]he belonged to a protected class; (2) [s]he was…
Read More Court Dismisses Mexican-American Professor’s Title VII National Origin Discrimination (Failure to Promote) ClaimBelow is the complaint, captioned Lewis v. Sahara Plaza LLC d/b/a The Plaza Hotel et al (NY Sup. Ct. Bx Cty Index 27324 Aug. 8, 2017), in which several plaintiffs allege that they were subjected to sexual harassment while working for the defendant. Plaintiffs allege, among other things, that “many of its female employees are…
Read More Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Plaza HotelIn Bentivegna v. People’s United Bank, No. 214CV599ADSGRB, 2017 WL 3394601 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 7, 2017), the court denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s gender-based hostile work environment claims. The law: To establish a hostile work environment claim under federal and New York State law, a plaintiff must demonstrate that the conduct at issue…
Read More Sexual Harassment Hostile Work Environment Claim Survives Summary Judgment; Evidence Included Sexually Inappropriate Comments and Belittling Plaintiff in Front of Male Co-WorkersIn Ivankovskaya v. Metro. Transportation Auth. Bus Co., No. 15-cv-5727, 2017 WL 3328166 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 3, 2017), the court held that plaintiff sufficiently alleged a retaliation claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).[1]I addressed this decision’s resolution of plaintiff’s hostile work environment and disability discrimination claims, respectively, here and here. Plaintiff worked as a…
Read More ADA Retaliation Claim Survives DismissalIn Ivankovskaya v. Metro. Transportation Auth. Bus Co., No. 15-cv-5727, 2017 WL 3328166 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 3, 2017), the court dismissed plaintiff’s hostile work environment claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Plaintiff worked as a bus operator for the MTA Bus Company. After being diagnosed with a disc herniation, she requested a “reasonable accommodation”…
Read More ADA Hostile Work Environment Claim Dismissed; Yelling InsufficientIn Ivankovskaya v. Metro. Transportation Auth. Bus Co., No. 15-cv-5727, 2017 WL 3328166 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 3, 2017), the court dismissed plaintiff’s disability discrimination claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), on the ground that plaintiff did not plausibly allege that she suffered a “disability” within the meaning of the statute.[1]The court also granted defendant’s…
Read More Court Dismisses ADA Disability Discrimination Claim; Complaint Did Not Plausibly Allege That Plaintiff’s Medical Condition Was a “Disability” Because it Did Not “Substantially Limit” a “Major Life Activity”