Retaliation

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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 Hernandez v. PFIP, LLC, No. 14 CIV. 4069 (LGS), 2015 WL 7758875 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 1, 2015), the Southern District of New York denied defendants Planet Fitness’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s retaliation claim under the NYC Human Rights Law. Here is Judge Schofield’s analysis of that claim: Plaintiff alleges two theories of retaliation.…

Read More Court Denies Summary Judgment to Defendant Employer and Holds That Rejecting Sexual Harasser’s Advances Can Support a Retaliation Claim Under the NYC Human Rights Law
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A Manhattan federal jury recently awarded $2.2 million to male trucking company employee Raymond Rosas and rejected defendant’s counterclaim for conversion. In that lawsuit, captioned Rosas v. Balter Sales Co. Inc. et al. (SDNY 12-cv-6557), plaintiff – a Hispanic male – asserted claims of (e.g.) race discrimination, gender discrimination, hostile work environment, sexual harassment, and…

Read More $2.2 Million Verdict in Male Truck Driver’s Sexual & Race Harassment Lawsuit
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In the case of E.E.O.C. v. Suffolk Laundry Servs., Inc., No. 12-cv-409 (E.D.N.Y.), the parties recently entered into a Consent Decree resolving the matter. (I previously wrote about this case.) The Consent Decree (here, with exhibits and below), which will remain in effect for three years from its date of entry, provides various forms of relief, including…

Read More $582k Settlement in Hostile Work Environment/Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Suffolk Laundry
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In Erasmus v. Deutsche Bank Americas Holding Corp. et al, No. 15 CIV. 1398 (PAE), 2015 WL 7736554 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 30, 2015), the Southern District of New York (Judge Engelmayer) dismissed plaintiff’s hostile work environment and discrimination claims, but permitted plaintiff’s retaliation claims (albeit in limited form) to continue. Plaintiff, a heterosexual male, alleged in…

Read More Retaliation Claims, But Not Discrimination & Hostile Work Environment Claims, Remain Against Deutsche Bank
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In Lenzi v. Systemax, Inc., No. 14-CV-7509 SJF, 2015 WL 6507842 (E.D.N.Y. Oct. 26, 2015), the court held that the female plaintiff stated a claim under the federal and New York state Equal Pay Acts. The law, per the court: The federal Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 206(d)(1) prohibits employers from discriminating between employees on…

Read More Female Plaintiff Plausibly Alleges Equal Pay Act Violations
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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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Unfortunately for New York workers, New York has a notoriously weak workplace “whistleblower law”. Its general whistleblower statute, NY Labor Law § 740, provides (in pertinent part): An employer shall not take any retaliatory personnel action against an employee because such employee does any of the following: (a) discloses, or threatens to disclose to a…

Read More Whistleblower Claim Dismissed; Supervisor Assault Was Not a Qualifying Legal Violation
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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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