Governmental Liability

In Olsen v. Suffolk County et al, 15-CV-4064, 2016 WL 5395846 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 27, 2016), the court held, among other things, that plaintiff plausibly alleged hostile work environment sexual harassment. The court summarized plaintiff’s allegations, in part, as follows: On or about May 26, 2014, Plaintiff was eating dinner with coworkers outside the precinct and…

Read More Forced Penis Touch, Among Other Allegations, Sufficient to Plausibly Allege Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment
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In Boudouris v. Cty. of Nassau, No. 14-cv-6719, 2016 WL 4288645 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 15, 2016), a sexual harassment and retaliation case, the court cited and applied the standard for deposing “high-ranking government officials.” In this case, plaintiff sought to take the depositions of two government officials: Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano and Nassau County Sheriff Michael…

Read More Court Grants Motion to Compel Depositions of High-Ranking Government Officials in Sexual Harassment Case
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In Makinen v. City of New York, No. 111CV07535ALCAJP, 2016 WL 880194 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 1, 2016), the Southern District of New York upheld a jury verdict, largely in plaintiffs NYPD officers’ favor, that defendants them to discrimination based on their perceived disability (here, alcoholism). In sum, plaintiffs, who denied having issues with alcohol, were separately referred…

Read More Court Upholds Jury Verdict of Discrimination Based on Perceived Disability (Alcoholism)
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You may have heard that Al Sharpton’s daughter Dominique has sued the City of New York for $5 million to recover for injuries allegedly sustained in a trip-and-fall accident. Here’s her April 29, 2015 lawsuit. An article in yesterday’s NY Post noted that Ms. Sharpton “was a no-show [on Dec. 2, 2015] for the first court…

Read More Dominique Sharpton’s “No Show” in Her $5M Personal Injury Case Against the City of New York
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Teaching is hard work. In addition to the typical stresses of any job – rude co-workers, overbearing bosses, long hours – teachers are forced to deal with unique challenges, such as physical violence in the classroom. This has been in the news lately; the search results from a Google query for “student attack teacher” are disheartening, to…

Read More Absence of “Special Duty” Results in Dismissal of Injured Teacher’s Lawsuit
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In Postell v. Rochester City Sch. Dist., No. 11-CV-6550L, 2015 WL 5882287 (W.D.N.Y. Oct. 8, 2015), the court denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s race discrimination claim under 42 USC 1981. Plaintiff, an African American school counselor for John Marshall High School, alleged (among other things) that the defendant subjected her to race…

Read More African American School Counselor Survives Summary Judgment on Race Discrimination and Retaliation Claims
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In Wynn v. New York City Hous. Auth., No. 14-CV-2818 SAS, 2015 WL 4578684 (S.D.N.Y. July 29, 2015), the court held that a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) did not foreclose plaintiffs from pressing their employment discrimination claims. In this case, plaintiffs allege that NYCHA systematically undercompensated them due to a policy of race discrimination. Defendant argued…

Read More Collective Bargaining Agreement Does Not Deprive Court of Subject Matter Jurisdiction Over Employment Discrimination Claims
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In Cooney v. City of New York Dept. of Sanitation, 2015 NY Slip Op 03465 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Apr. 28, 2015), the Appellate Division, First Department reversed a lower court decision to dismiss plaintiff’s failure-to-hire disability discrimination claims for failure to state causes of action under the New York State and New York City Human…

Read More Psoriasis-Suffering Plaintiff Suffiiently Pleads Disability Discrimination
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Last year, a Times Square Spiderman, Junior Bishop, was criminally charged with punching a police officer. Following the dismissal of his criminal case, he has taken steps to sue the City for, among other things, his alleged false arrest. Here are the petition in support of his request to file a late “notice of claim” and…

Read More Spiderman, Plaintiff
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In Bednark v. City of New York (decided April 2, 2015), a bus-related personal injury case, the Appellate Division, First Department modified a lower court’s order granting summary judgment to the the defendant City of New York to deny that motion. The facts: Plaintiff was injured when, while disembarking from the rear doors of a…

Read More “Bus Stop” Includes Sidewalk; Summary Judgment to City Denied
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