In TE v. Pine Bush Central School Dist, the Southern District of New York denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiffs/students’ Title VI claims. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, codified at 42 U.S.C. § 2000(d), provides that [n]o person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or…
Read More Anti-Semitic Student Harassment Case ContinuesIn Santiesteban v. Nestle Waters North America, Inc. (decided Oct. 15, 2014), the Eastern District of New York denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s claims of discrimination and hostile work environment (based on religion). As to plaintiff’s discrimination claim, the court held: [T]he comments that “you people are manipulative,” that “Plaintiff manipulated … Cappetta…
Read More Evidence of Derogatory Comments About Jews Leads to Denial of Summary Judgment in Employment Discrimination CaseIn Shafer v. The American University in Cairo, plaintiff – a tenure-track Assistant Professor – alleged that she was subjected to a hostile work environment, demoted, and discriminated against relative to tenure as a result of her identity as a white American Muslim woman, and then retaliated against for complaining about discrimination. The court granted summary judgment to defendants…
Read More Retaliation, But Not Religious Discrimination, Claims Continue Against American University in CairoIn Haight v NYU Langone Med. Ctr. (decided June 27, 2014), the Southern District of New York held that plaintiff, a pediatric nurse, sufficiently pleaded claims for hostile work environment sexual harassment, disability discrimination, and negligent hiring/retention. Plaintiff alleged, among other things, that a co-worker discussed plaintiff’s medical problems with other NYU employees, put her hands…
Read More Nurse Sufficiently Alleges Hostile Work Environment Sexual HarassmentIn a July 16, 2014 lawsuit, Rikers inmate Roberto Nieves asserts that he was improperly denied the ability to practice his Wiccan religion. Here’s the NY Post story. In his inmate grievance (page 8 of the filing) plaintiff asserts that his brother tried to leave him three religious books – a “Wicca Bible”, “book of shadows”,…
Read More Wiccan Inmate Files $30 Million Lawsuit Alleging Denial of Access to Written MaterialsBelow is the complaint filed on June 11, 2014 by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against United Health Programs of America, Inc. and Cost Containment Group, Inc. The suit alleges, among other things, that defendants forced employees to engage in practices pursuant to a belief system called “Harnessing Happiness” (commonly known as “Onionhead”), including praying, reading…
Read More “Onionhead” Religious Discrimination LawsuitAs reported by the Daily News, a Brooklyn federal court jury on Friday awarded Osama Saleh $4.7 million in an employment discrimination lawsuit. Mr. Saleh – who was raised in Yemen and is Muslim – alleged in his complaint, Saleh v. Pretty Girl, Inc. et al., CV-09-1769 (copy below), that defendants discriminated against him based on…
Read More $4.7 Million Jury Verdict for “Terrorist”, “Bin Laden” Discrimination VictimIn Herling v. New York City Department of Education, decided April 23, 2014, the Eastern District of New York held that plaintiff stated a claim for discrimination based on race and religion, but not retaliation. Plaintiff, who is Jewish, alleged that he was subjected to discrimination by the school’s African-American principal, defendant Gray. He claimed,…
Read More Physical Education Teacher States Claim for Religious Discrimination Against Department of EducationBelow is the complaint filed on May 12, 2014 in the Southern District of New York by television writer/producer and professor Mollie Fermaglich against New York University and others. The lawsuit is captioned Mollie Fermaglich v. New York University et al., 1:14-cv-03434, and has been assigned to Judge Engelmayer. Ms. Fermaglich, who is Jewish, asserts (among other things)…
Read More NYU Professor and TV Writer/Producer Mollie Fermaglich’s Federal Discrimination Suit Against NYU