Sex / Gender Discrimination

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In Chinnery v. NYS Office of Children and Family Svcs, decided April 25, 2014, Southern District of New York Magistrate Judge Maas recommended that defendant OCFS be granted summary judgment on plaintiff’s disparate treatment, retaliation, and hostile work environment claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. While the court’s discussion of…

Read More Court Reiterates That “Mere Workplace Bullying” Unrelated to the Plaintiff’s Membership in a Protected Class Does Not Constitute a Hostile Work Environment
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The New York State and City Human Rights Laws are powerful weapons in the civil rights plaintiff’s arsenal. For example, they reach a broader range of people, and offer broader coverage, than their federal counterparts. However, as illusratd by a recent First Department decision, Benham v. eCommission Solutions (decided June 24, 2014), they are limited…

Read More Citing Geographical Limitations of NY State and City Human Rights Laws, First Department Dismisses Plaintiff’s Employment Discrimination Complaint
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In Bethea v. City of New York (decided June 12, 2014), the Eastern District of New York held that plaintiff adequately pleaded sexual harassment and hostile work environment claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Plaintiff alleges that she was subjected to repeated sexual harassment by her co-worker, Sergeant Michelle Williams,…

Read More Police Officer Adequately Alleges Sexual Harassment, Hostile Work Environment, and Retaliation Claims
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In Ji Sun Jennifer Kim v Goldberg, Weprin, Finkel, Goldstein, LLP (decided June 3, 2014), the Appellate Division, First Department held that the plaintiff’s claims of retaliatory termination under the New York State and City Human Rights Laws were not collaterally estopped by a prior federal court decision dismissing her claims under the Family and…

Read More Dismissal of FMLA Claims Does Not Preclude Assertion of State/City Human Rights Law Retaliation Claims, First Department Holds
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In Thomas v. EONY LLC and David Shavolian (Sup. Ct. NY Cty. Index No. 158961/2013 May 23, 2014), a New York trial court denied defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint alleging sexual harassment, retaliation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Plaintiff alleged, for example, that defendant violated the New York State and City Human Rights Laws…

Read More There’s Zealous Advocacy, Then There’s This: Judge “Aghast” at Sexual Harassment “Defense”
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The court’s decision in Garrigan v. Ruby Tuesday, 14-cv-155 (S.D.N.Y. May 22, 2014) illustrates the important distinctions between pleading employment discrimination claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the much broader New York City Human Rights Law. Plaintiff claimed that she was harassed in the workplace because she would not…

Read More Plaintiff Successfully Pleads Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Under NYC Human Rights Law
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Below 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
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In Lehman v. Bergmann Associates (decided March 31, 2014), the Western District of New York held that plaintiff adequately pleaded some, but not other, employment discrimination claims. The case provides a good review of federal pleading standards for various employment-related claims. Plaintiff alleged that she was the first woman to hold a senior management position at…

Read More Court Provides Guidance on Pleading Employment Discrimination Claims
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The Appellate Division, First Department held, in Walzer v. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (decided May 13, 2014), that plaintiff’s gender discrimination claims should not have been dismissed: Applying the liberal pleading standards applicable to employment discrimination claims under the State and City Human Rights Law, plaintiff has stated causes of action for violations of the Human…

Read More First Department Reinstates Gender Discrimination Claims
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Today, April 8, is Equal Pay Day, which (according to the Huffington Post) marks “the number of extra days into 2014 the average woman has to work to earn as much as her male counterpart did in 2013.” President Obama also signed executive orders today addressing gender-based wage discrimination. The primary federal legislation addressing gender…

Read More Equal Pay Day
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