Below is the sexual harassment and race discrimination complaint filed by plaintiff Elizabeth Shiflett against Scores Holding Company last Friday. She sues under Title VII and the New York State and City Human Rights Laws. This is one of the relatively few cases in which the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) found reasonable cause to believe…
Read More Sexual Harassment Complaint Against ScoresLast week in Williams v. Board of Education-City of Buffalo, the Second Circuit affirmed the summary judgment dismissal of plaintiff’s First Amendment retaliation claims. The district court’s decision is here, and the Second Circuit’s decision is here. Plaintiff, a clerk at the Riverside Institute of Technology, claimed that the principal instructed her to “alter payroll documentation…
Read More School Clerk’s Complaints About Payroll Fraud Not Protected Under the First AmendmentIn Lewis v Health and Hospitals Corp, 11-cv-0099, 2013 WL 2351798 (SDNY May 30, 2013), the court held that pursuing, and losing, discrimination claims at the state administrative level barred a subsequent federal action. There, plaintiff initially filed a verified complaint with the New York State Division of Human Rights (SDHR) charging defendants with disability discrimination…
Read More Election of Remedies Results in Dismissal of Federal ComplaintIn Fattoruso v. Hilton Grand Vacations Co., 12-2405 (2d Cir. May 17, 2013), the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s retaliation claim under the New York City Human Rights Law. Plaintiff claimed that Hilton violated the NYCHRL by retaliating against him for “raising the issue of his supervisor’s inappropriate relationship with and preferential treatment of…
Read More Second Circuit Rejects Retaliation Claim Under the New York City Human Rights Law; Complaints Re: “Paramour Preference” Not Protected ActivityThe Second Circuit last week issued a summary order granding pro se (i.e., self-represented) plaintiff Diane Robinson an opportunity to amend her complaint alleging employment discrimination and retaliation. The court’s order in Robinson v. Goulet, 12-3606 (May 17, 2013) is here. Plaintiff alleged that her manager, Peter Goulet, discriminated against her on the basis of her sex…
Read More Second Circuit Gives Pro Se Discrimination Plaintiff Another ChanceA federal court last week struck down an employment discrimination defendant’s attempt to obtain broad-ranging discovery from plaintiff in her Title VII gender discrimination, hostile work environment, sexual harassment, and retaliation case. The court’s decision in Kennedy v. Contract Pharmaceutical Corp. is here. Social Media Document Requests Social media is everywhere, and much has been written on…
Read More Court Rejects Defendants’ Attempts to Obtain Social Media Discovery From Discrimination PlaintiffLast week in Kelly v. Howard I. Shapiro & Associates Consulting Engineers, P.C. the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s retaliation claims. The facts, however, are not quite typical: [Plaintiff] quit her job as a human resources manager at her family business after complaining about an affair that one of her brothers, a vice president…
Read More Second Circuit Rejects “Sexual Favoritism” Claim And Clarifies The “Objectively Reasonable Belief” Element Of RetaliationA recent decision, Delucia v. Abbondandolo, Index No. 005793-10 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Nassau Cty. March 11, 2013), held that, in the circumstances of that case, it was unlawful to fire an employee because they file for unemployment benefits. After plaintiff Gina Delucia was let go by a non-party employer, she filed for unemployment benefits. The…
Read More Retaliation Claim Based On Unemployment Filing SurvivesMihalik v. Credit Agricole Cheuvreux N. Am., Inc., decided by the Second Circuit today, again illustrates the breadth of the New York City Human Rights Law’s protections against employment discrimination and retaliation. The Second Circuit vacated the lower court’s decision granting summary judgment to defendant and remanded the case for trial. Plaintiff alleged that her supervisor [CEO…
Read More Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Based On “Boys’ Club” Atmosphere Proceeds To TrialYesterday the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in the case of University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar. The transcript is below. I had previously written about the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case (including the issues to be discussed) here. The issue is whether a plaintiff seeking to prove retaliation under Title…
Read More SCOTUS Hears Oral Argument On Title VII Retaliation Issue