In a New York State court lawsuit, captioned Lisser v. Bloomberg L.P. et al (Index No. 155354/2016), plaintiff Elizabeth Lisser alleges (among other things) that her manager – defendant Brian Schuler – “continually directed sexual innuendo and comments towards plaintiff about her figure, weight and appearance, massaged her shoulders, look[ed] down her blouse, [and] direct[ed] texts…
Read More Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Bloomberg LPIn Deluca v. Sirius Xm Radio, Inc., No. 12-CV-8239, 2016 WL 3034332 (S.D.N.Y. May 27, 2016), an employment discrimination case, plaintiff alleged that “she was paid less than her male peers, that she was removed from her supervisory authority, and that she was subjected to anti-gay slurs in the workplace.” To flesh out her claims,…
Read More Court Orders Pre-Statute of Limitations “Comparator” Discovery in Gender Pay and Sexual Orientation Discrimination Lawsuit Against Sirius XM RadioIn Barone v. Emmis Communications Corp., 2016 Slip Op 31049(U), Index 155032/12 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. June 7, 2016), the court, per Judge Hagler, granted summary judgment to defendants and dismissed plaintiff’s gender discrimination claim under the NYC Human Rights Law. The decision summarizes the legal framework (the two methods, pretext and mixed-motive) for analyzing NYC…
Read More Spousal Jealousy, Not Gender, Was Basis for Termination; Court Dismisses NYC Human Rights Law Discrimination ComplaintIn Franchino v. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, No. 15 CV 6299 (VB), 2016 WL 3360525, at (S.D.N.Y. June 15, 2016), the court dismissed plaintiff’s complaint for discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity, national origin, and age under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim. In dismissing his Title VII…
Read More SDNY Dismisses Employment Discrimination Complaint Asserting Unequal Discipline and Age-Related Jokes and CommentsIn Motta v. Glob. Contract Servs. Inc., No. 15 CV 8555 (LGS), 2016 WL 2642229 (S.D.N.Y. May 4, 2016), the court dismissed plaintiff’s retaliation and discriminatory pay claims as insufficiently pled. While the court held that the complaint was deficient, its decision is nevertheless instructive as to what must be alleged in order to survive a…
Read More SDNY Explains Discriminatory Pay, Retaliation Pleading DeficienciesIn Bell v. McRoberts Protective Agency, No. 15-CV-0963 (JPO), 2016 WL 1688786 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 25, 2016), the court held that plaintiff failed to sufficiently allege race/gender discrimination, retaliation, and hostile work environment claims. The court’s explanation of why the plaintiff’s claims were insufficiently pled is instructive as to what courts look for when evaluating these…
Read More Race/Sex Discrimination, Hostile Work Environment and Retaliation Claims Insufficiently AllegedIn Goodwine v. City of New York, No. 15-CV-2868 (JMF), 2016 WL 3017398 (S.D.N.Y. May 23, 2016), the court denied defendants’ FRCP 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss plaintiff’s retaliation and gender/race disparate treatment claims. Plaintiff, an African American woman employed by the NYC Dept. of Information & Telecommunications, sufficiently alleged retaliation by alleging that (1) she…
Read More Plaintiff Sufficiently Alleges Retaliation and Gender/Race Discrimination (But Not Hostile Work Environment)In Magnusson v. Cty. of Suffolk, No. 14-cv-3449, 2016 WL 2889002 (E.D.N.Y. May 17, 2016), the court dismissed plaintiff’s gender and sexual orientation-based hostile work environment claims. As to her sexual harassment claim, the court explained that too much time passed between the two incidents cited in support of that claim: There is little doubt…
Read More Court Dismisses Sexual Harassment (Hostile Work Environment) Claim; Too Much Time Beween Two Supporting IncidentsIn a recent lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court, captioned Domingo v. Choice Logistics, Inc. and James Adams, SDNY 16-cv-3648 (filed May 16, 2016), plaintiff Christine Domingo alleges, among other things: Within six days after commencing her employment with Choice in December 2014, Domingo was subjected to unwelcomed physical touching, assault and sexual harassment by…
Read More Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Choice LogisticsIn Edwards v. Nicolai (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 160830/2013 May 13, 2016), NY Supreme Court Judge Shlomo Hagler dismissed plaintiff’s gender discrimination claim under the NYS and NYC Human Rights Laws. In her Amended Complaint, plaintiff Dilek Edwards alleged that she was terminated because of the jealousy of plaintiff’s boss’s wife, namely, that she thought plaintiff was…
Read More Court Dismisses Gender Discrimination Claims Based on Allegation That Plaintiff Was “Too Cute”