Race / Color Discrimination

A First Department case, Cadet-Legros v. New York Univ. Hosp. Ctr., 2015 NY Slip Op 08984 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Dec. 8, 2015), held that defendants were entitled to summary judgment dismissing plaintiff’s race discrimination cause of action under the NYC Human Rights Law. This case offers guidance on how courts evaluate motions for summary judgment…

Read More Termination Reasons Were Not Pretextual; “Leopard Does Not Change its Spots” Was Not “Coded” Racial Language
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In Lee v. Winthrop University Hosp., 2015 WL 7161955 (E.D.N.Y.,2015), the Eastern District of New York explained its decision to grant defendants’ motion for summary judgment and dismiss his employment discrimination complaint. As to his race discrimination claims: The Plaintiff attempts to create a genuine issue of material fact by asserting that the disciplinary warnings…

Read More Court Explains Reasons for Dismissing Race & National Origin Discrimination Claims Against Hospital
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In Busby v. Syracuse City Sch. Dist., No. 5:15-CV-1007 LEK/ATB, 2015 WL 5820972 (N.D.N.Y. Oct. 5, 2015), the court adopted the Magistrate Judge’s Report and dismissed plaintiff’s employment discrimination claims as insufficiently pled. There, plaintiff alleged that she was dismissed from her employment as a “School Monitor” at the McKinley–Brighton School in Syracuse after twenty…

Read More Failure to Allege Discriminatory Motivation Results in Dismissal of Complaint
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In Sands v. New Paltz Central School District, a race discrimination case, the Second Circuit vacated the district court’s order granting defendants’ motion for summary judgment. Citing the Supreme Court’s decision in Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133 (2000), the court explained: [A] plaintiff’s prima facie case … when combined with sufficient evidence…

Read More Second Circuit Revives Race Discrimination Case, Citing SCOTUS “Reeves” Decision
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In Bacchus v. New York City Dep’t of Educ., No. 12 CV 1663 PKC, 2015 WL 5774550 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 30, 2015), the court denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s (a black woman of Guyanese national origin) claims of employment discrimination and hostile work environment. This case provides a helpful analysis of whether alleged…

Read More Race, National Origin Discrimination Claims Survive Summary Judgment; Alleged Discriminatory Comments Were Not “Stray Remarks”
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In a recent lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court (captioned Harwell v. Consolidated Edison Co. of NY, 15-cv-08511 (SDNY filed 10/28/15), plaintiff (an African American woman) asserts, among other things, that she was subjected to race discrimination, gender discrimination, and a hostile work environment by her employer, Con Ed.

Read More Race/Gender Discrimination, Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Con Edison
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The court’s decision in Varughese v. Mount Sinai Med. Ctr., No. 12 CIV. 8812 CM JCF, 2015 WL 1499618 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 27, 2015) provides an example of what circumstances will not give rise to an actionable hostile work environment claim. From the decision: In the end, [d]etermining whether workplace harassment was severe or pervasive enough to be actionable…

Read More Court Dismisses Doctor’s Race, Sex-Based Hostile Work Environment Claims Against Mt. Sinai
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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 Sosa v. Local Staff LLC (14-3704-cv), a Summary Order issued by the Second Circuit on Oct. 9, 2015, the court discussed what constitutes “protected activity” for purposes of asserting a retaliation claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the NYC Human Rights Law (NYCHRL). In this employment discrimination case,…

Read More Complaint About “You’re So Street” Comment Was Not “Protected Activity”; Retaliation Claim Properly Dismissed
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In McCall v. Genpak, LLC, No. 13-CV-1947 KMK, 2015 WL 5730352 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 30, 2015), the court denied defendants’ summary judgment motion on plaintiff’s race discrimination and hostile work environment claims. Race Discrimination Based on “Adverse Action” Plaintiff alleged that he was subjected to two adverse employment actions – demotion and termination – because of…

Read More Plaintiff Survives Summary Judgment on Race Discrimination, Hostile Work Environment, and Retaliation Claims
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