Retaliation

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In Marquez v. City of New York, 14-CV-8185, 2016 WL 4767577 (SDNY Sept. 12, 2016), the court granted summary judgment to defendant and dismissed plaintiff’s hostile work environment claim. Plaintiff (a NYPD detective) alleged, among other things, that a male Lieutenant (Castro) told her that she did not need to lose weight and that he “liked her the…

Read More Invitation to “Gun Show” and Other Comments Insufficient to Survive Summary Judgment on Hostile Work Environment Claim
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In Parra v. City of White Plains et al, No. 13 CV 5544 (VB), 2016 WL 4734666 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 9, 2016), the court denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s hostile work environment claim (but granted it with respect to plaintiff’s retaliation claim). In sum, plaintiff – a police officer – alleges that two…

Read More Police Officer’s Sexual Harassment / Hostile Work Environment Claim Survives Summary Judgment
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Not every action taken by an employer against an employee is actionable under the anti-discrimination laws, even if the action is tied to a so-called protected characteristic. The dividing line between actionable and non-actionable conduct – for claims of retaliation or status-based discrimination – is the presence, or absence, of an “adverse employment action.” As…

Read More What is an “Adverse Employment Action”?
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A recent decision, Frazier v. City of New York Dep’t of Correction, No. 14-CV-1224 (KAM)(PK), 2016 WL 4444775 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 23, 2016), addressed whether certain alleged actions were “adverse employment actions” sufficient to support a proposed complaint amendment to add a claim of retaliation. Initially, the court addressed the procedural issue of whether plaintiff should be…

Read More Court Rejects Motion to Amend Complaint to Add Retaliation Claim; Informal Reprimands Were Not “Adverse Employment Actions”
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A female partner at the law firm of Chadbourne & Parke LLP filed a Manhattan federal lawsuit (captioned Kerrie Campbell v. Chadbourne & Parke LLP et al, SDNY 16-cv-6832), which “seeks relief on behalf of herself and other female Partners who have been disparately underpaid, systematically shut out of Firm leadership, demoted, de-equitized and terminated.”

Read More Gender Discrimination Class-Action Lawsuit Against Chadbourne & Parke
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In Redfern-Wallace v. Buffalo News, Inc., No. 12-CV-471, 2016 WL 4361129 (W.D.N.Y. Aug. 16, 2016), the court adopted a Magistrate’s Report & Recommendation that defendants’ motions for summary judgment dismissing plaintiff’s discriminatory-discharge, hostile work environment, and retaliation claims be granted. As to plaintiff’s discriminatory-discharge claim, the court explained: Based on the undisputed facts, it is clear that…

Read More Crass Text Messages to Co-Worker, Not Discrimination, Were Reason For Termination; “Niagara”, “Chia Pet” Comments Did Not Constitute Hostile Work Environment
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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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In Beecher v. Northwell Health, EDNY 16-cv-4190, plaintiff alleges gender discrimination, hostile work environment, and retaliation. Among plaintiff’s allegations were that defendant’s Administrative Director, Nelson Mercurio, “went out of his way to catch the female staff members wearing scented products and, upon information and belief, was observed smelling the female staff in an effort to reprimand…

Read More Gender Discrimination, Hostile Work Environment, and Retaliation Lawsuit Cites Employee-Sniffing Boss
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In Atencio v. United States Postal Serv., No. 14 CIV. 7929 (AJP), 2016 WL 4145930 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 4, 2016), the court granted defendant USPS’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s reasonable accommodation claim, but denied its motion on plaintiff’s retaliation claim under the Rehabilitation Act (a federal statute applicable to claims of disability discrimination by…

Read More Letter Carrier’s Retaliatory Hostile Work Environment Claim Against USPS Survives Summary Judgment
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