Today is Juneteenth, which celebrates the ending of slavery in the United States. On this day in 1865, Union soldiers landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War had ended that enslaved persons were now free. This was, notably, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation (which became official on January 1, 1863). Juneteenth…
Read More Juneteenth: 2020In Shukla v. Deloitte Consulting LLP, 2020 WL 3181785 (S.D.N.Y. June 15, 2020), the court held, inter alia, that plaintiff sufficiently alleged race/national origin discrimination under the New York City Human Rights Law. The court also dismissed several of plaintiff’s other claims, including his gender, race and national origin discrimination claims under Title VII, Section…
Read More Citing “Expendable Indian” Comment, Court Finds Plaintiff Plausibly Alleged Race/National Origin Discrimination Claim Under the NYC Human Rights LawIn Sanderson v. Leg Apparel et al, 2020 WL 3100256 (SDNY June 11, 2020), the court, inter alia, held that plaintiff sufficiently alleged his race-based discrimination claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the New York State Human Rights Law, and the New York City Human Rights Law. From the decision:…
Read More Race Discrimination Claims Sufficiently Alleged; Allegations Included Disproportionately Heavy WorkloadToday marks the 53rd anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark (unanimous) decision in Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967) (J. Warren), in which the Court held that Virginia’s “anti-miscegenation statutes” – laws prohibiting marriages between persons solely on the basis of race – violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth…
Read More Loving v. Virginia: Happy (53rd) AnniversaryIn Rivera v. JP Morgan Chase, 2020 WL 2787622 (2d Cir. May 29, 2020) (Summary Order), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, inter alia, affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s race- and national origin-based hostile work environment claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. From the decision: To state…
Read More Hostile Work Environment Claim Dismissal Affirmed; Insufficient Details AllegedIn Moultry v. Rockland Psychiatric Center, 2020 WL 2765870 (SDNY May 28, 2020) (J. Roman), the court, inter alia, denied defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s claim of constructive discharge. From the decision: A “[c]onstructive discharge of an employee occurs when an employer, rather than directly discharging an individual, intentionally creates an intolerable work atmosphere that…
Read More Constructive Discharge Claim Sufficiently Alleged Against Rockland Psychiatric CenterIn Williams v. County of Nassau, 2020 WL 2703675 (2d Cir. May 26, 2020)) (Summary Order), the Second Circuit, inter alia, affirmed the lower court ‘s summary judgment dismissal of plaintiff’s hostile work environment claim. From the decision: [T]he existence of the carvings at issue, though highly offensive, were not under the specific circumstances here…
Read More Hostile Work Environment Dismissal Affirmed; Alleged Racist Etchings InsufficientIn Pardovani v. Crown Building Maintenance Co., 2020 WL 2555280 (SDNY May 20, 2020), the court denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s race-based hostile work environment claim. From the decision: Pardovani offers evidence to suggest that, far from an occasional occurrence, the word “nigger,” and derivations thereof, were used frequently and offensively in…
Read More Race-Based Hostile Work Environment Claims Survive; Evidence Included the Use of the “N-Word”In Campbell v. Bottling Group, LLC, 2020 WL 2563100 (2d Cir. May 21, 2020) (Summary Order), the Second Circuit, inter alia, affirmed the district court’s dismissal (summary judgment) on plaintiff’s race-based hostile work environment claim. The court summarized the well-established black-letter law relating to hostile work environment claims: To establish a claim for hostile work…
Read More Race-Based Hostile Work Environment Claim Properly Dismissed; “Stink” Comment InsufficientIn Taylor v. Dollar Tree Stores, 2020 WL 2478663 (EDNY May 13, 2020), the court, inter alia, dismissed plaintiff’s race- and national origin-based hostile work environment claims. From the decision: Taylor’s allegations about his co-workers, including that they verbally abused him cannot be the basis of a hostile work environment claim, because there is an…
Read More Race/National Origin-Based Hostile Work Environment Claims Dismissed Against Dollar Tree Stores