Pleading

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In Donahue v. Asia TV USA Ltd., No. 15 CIV. 6490 (NRB), 2016 WL 5173381 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 21, 2016), the court granted in part and denied in part plaintiff’s employment discrimination claims. While, for example, the court dismissed plaintiff’s hostile work environment claims under Title VII, the ADEA, and NYS Human Rights Law, it held…

Read More “Lazy Americans” Hostile Work Environment Claim Survives Dismissal; Court Strikes Unrelated Sexual Harassment Allegations From Plaintiff’s Complaint
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In Quick v. Garcia, No. 16-cv-2646, 2016 WL 6069504 (E.D.N.Y. Oct. 14, 2016), the court dismissed, with prejudice, plaintiff’s (amended) complaint which asserted disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This decision contains a small, but important, pleading point. It explained: “[T]he Amended Complaint does not allege that plaintiff is disabled within the…

Read More ADA Disability Discrimination Claim Insufficiently Pleaded
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In Al-Kaysey v. Engility Corp., No. 11-cv-6318, 2016 WL 5349751 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 23, 2016), the court held that plaintiff – a U.S. Citizen of Iraqi descent and practicing Muslim who was employed as a linguist – plausibly alleged (in a proposed amended complaint) a claim of hostile work environment against defendants, including the Army. (This…

Read More “Sand Nigger” and Other Comments Support Iraqi Muslim’s Hostile Work Environment Claim Against Army
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From Rojas v. Port Auth. of New York & New Jersey, No. 15CV6185NGGPK, 2016 WL 5921777, at *8–9 (E.D.N.Y. Oct. 11, 2016): Having found that Plaintiff has at least one timely allegation of disparate treatment under each statute, the court turns to the sufficiency of the pleadings. The court finds that none of Plaintiff’s timely allegations…

Read More Title VII Race, National Origin Discrimination Claims Insufficiently Alleged
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In Pothen v. Stony Brook Univ., No. 13-cv-6170, 2016 WL 5716842 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 30, 2016), the court granted in part and denied in part defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s discrimination and hostile work environment claims. As to plaintiff’s discrimination claims (based on adverse actions short of termination), the court explained: With respect to plaintiff’s claims…

Read More Plaintiff’s National Origin and Religion (Non-Termination) and Hostile Work Environment Claims Plausibly Alleged
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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 Kaplan v. New York City Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene, 2016 NY Slip Op 06063 (App. Div. 2nd Dept. Sept. 21, 2016), the court reversed a CPLR 3211(a)(7) dismissal (for failure to state a claim) of plaintiff’s claims of sexual harassment and retaliation. This decision provides helpful guidance on who has what burden of…

Read More 2d Dept. Reverses Dismissal of “Masturbating Boss” Sexual Harassment Case Under the NYC Human Rights Law
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In Miller v. Kendall, No. 14-CV-393, 2016 WL 4472748 (W.D.N.Y. Aug. 25, 2016), the court held that plaintiff plausibly alleged disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The court declined to adopt a Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation to dismiss plaintiff’s ADA claim. This decision addresses the issue of what constitutes “essential functions” of one’s…

Read More State Trooper’s ADA Disability Discrimination Claim Survives Dismissal, Notwithstanding Doctor’s Note
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In Conforti v. Sunbelt Rentals, Inc., No. 15-cv-5045, 2016 WL 4288699 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 15, 2016), the court held  that the Plaintiff “satisfied the minimal showing required at this motion to dismiss stage to plausibly allege that the Defendant’s decision to terminate her employment … was motivated at least in part by a discriminatory reason.” Judge Spatt…

Read More Replacement By Men, Sexist Comments, Etc. Among Facts That Plausibly Alleged Gender Discrimination
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Today, in Vasquez v. Empress Ambulance Service, 15-3239-cv (2d Cir. Aug. 29, 2016), the Second Circuit – in an opinion authored by Judge Calabresi – vacated a lower court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s retaliation claim under Title VII, and explicitly held “that an employer may be held liable for an employee’s animus under a ‘cat’s paw’…

Read More Second Circuit Reinstates Retaliation Claim Based on “Cat’s Paw” Theory
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