Religion-Based Discrimination

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Employment discrimination law is (for the most part) statutory, and is distributed among a variety of federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Although these statutes’ protections may overlap, they differ in terms of (e.g.) which employers are covered, administrative filing prerequisites, and damages/remedies. Below is a summary (not a complete listing or explanation) of…

Read More Which Employment Discrimination Laws Protect New York City Workers?
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In Capek v. BNY Mellon, N.A., No. 15-cv-4155, 2016 WL 2993211 (S.D.N.Y. May 23, 2016) the court denied defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s race and religious discrimination claims. Plaintiff alleged in her federal court complaint, e.g., that “[i]n the mistaken belief that [she] is Jewish, she was required by her managers to cultivate clients in…

Read More Work Assignments Based on Perceived Jewish Faith Supports Race/Religious Discrimination Claims, Court Holds
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In Ahmed v. Astoria Bank, No. 14-CV-4595, 2016 WL 1254638 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 31, 2016), the court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s claims of discrimination and hostile work environment (race, religion, national origin) and retaliation. This decision is instructive on what is required to survive summary judgment on a Title VII hostile work…

Read More Alleged “Terrorist” (Etc.) Comments Were Insufficient to Survive Summary Judgment on Hostile Work Environment Claim; Retaliation Claim Dismissed For Failure to Exhaust Administrative (EEOC) Remedies
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In Penn v. The New York Methodist Hospital, No. 11-CV-9137 (NSR), 2016 WL 270456 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 20, 2016), the court dismissed plaintiff’s Title VII religion-based discrimination claim under the so-called”ministerial exception,” which operates at the intersection of anti-discrimination and First Amendment law. The ministerial exception, which is based on the Religion Clauses of the First…

Read More Court Dismisses Methodist Chaplain’s Religious Discrimination Claim Against Hospital Under the “Ministerial Exception”
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In White v. Andy Frain Servs., Inc., No. 14-3332-CV, 2015 WL 6684485 (2d Cir. Nov. 3, 2015), the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s (a black Jewish man) employment discrimination claims. Plaintiff “assert[ed] that Andy Frain discriminated against him by failing to give him a raise, providing unequal terms and conditions of employment, retaliating…

Read More Court Explains Dismissal of Religious Discrimination (Including Failure to Accommodate) Claims
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In a recent Manhattan federal lawsuit, captioned Jose Alcantara v. Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. and Kellie Marsalli, SDNY 15-cv-08770 (filed 11/6/15), plaintiff (a Muslim cancer survivor) alleges that he was subjected to a hostile work environment, retaliated against, denied a raise and promotion, and terminated based upon his religion. Plaintiff alleges, among other things, that defendant(s)…

Read More Muslim’s Religious Discrimination Lawsuit Against Bed Bath & Beyond
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File this one under “What were they thinking?!?”. When the facts of an employment discrimination case include the terms “Hitler video” and “mandatory conference”, it isn’t difficult to predict how the case is going to turn out. In Orlando v. BNP Paribas N. Am., Inc., No. 14 CIV. 4102 AJP, 2015 WL 6387531 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 22,…

Read More Hitler/Nazi “Training Video” Supports Hostile Work Environment Claims Under New York State and City Human Rights Laws
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In Herling v. New York City Dep’t of Educ., No. 13-CV-5287 JG VVP, 2015 WL 5307752 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 10, 2015), the court denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s claims of discrimination based on his race (white) and religion (Jewish). In an April 23, 2014 Order (which I discussed here) the court denied defendants’ FRCP 12(b)(6)…

Read More White Jewish Teacher Overcomes Summary Judgment on Discrimination Claims
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In Fox v. New York City Dep’t of Educ., No. 13-CV-3204 VEC, 2015 WL 4991878 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 20, 2015), the court dismissed claims asserted by plaintiff – a former guidance counselor at P.S. 150 – of religious discrimination, race discrimination, age discrimination, hostile work environment, and sexual harassment. As to plaintiff’s religious discrimination claim, the court…

Read More Guidance Counselor’s Discrimination, Sexual Harassment Claims Dismissed
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Here is the employment discrimination complaint, captioned Miller v. Zara USA, Dilip Patel, and Moises Costas Rodriguez, filed in Supreme Court, NY County (Index No. 155512-2015), on June 3, 2015. In it, Zara’s former in-house counsel, Ian Jack Miller, asserts various claims, including religion-based discrimination, national origin discrimination, sexual orientation discrimination, and retaliation.

Read More Employment Discrimination Lawsuit Against Zara
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