Sexual Harassment

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Here’s yet another reason not to engage in sexual activity with subordinates. In Scholem v. Acadia Realty Ltd. Partnership (decided August 7, 2014), the court held that an employer established, as a matter of law, that it fired plaintiff (its former Senior Vice President-Director of Property Management) for “cause” after he engaged in sexual relations with…

Read More Sex With Assistant Results in Termination for “Cause” and Denial of Severance Benefits
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According to various reports (for example, from Buzzfeed and Time), dating company start-up Tinder and its parent company recently settled a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by co-founder Whitney Wolfe. In her California state court complaint filed earlier this year, Ms. Wolfe alleged (for example) that the conduct of Tinder’s senior executives “represent[ed] the worst of the misogynist,…

Read More Tinder Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit
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Here is the complaint filed on September 3, 2014 by Danny Yoo against The New York Palace Hotel and Michael Richard. Plaintiff alleges, among other things, that after Richard noticed a bubble on an eclair plaintiff had worked on, Richard approached plaintiff “and all of a sudden began tapping [plaintiff]’s chin and lips repeatedly with…

Read More Danny Yoo’s Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against The New York Palace Hotel and Michael Richard
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In Valleriani v. Route 390 Nissan (filed Sept. 2, 2014), the Western District of New York denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s gender-based hostile work environment claim: [T]o constitute gender discrimination in the form of a hostile work environment, the conduct directed at Plaintiff had to be based on her gender. Here, the incidents…

Read More Content, Rather Than Motivation, for Sexually Offensive Language is Relevant in Hostile Work Environment Case, According to Court
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In Moll v. Telesector Resources Group, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in a July 24, 2014 decision) vacated the district court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s sex-based hostile work environment claim. Plaintiff alleged, inter alia: [I]n 1998 and 1999, Daniel Irving, a Senior Systems Analyst, left Moll three inappropriate notes. And in 1999,…

Read More Non-Sexual Comments Can Still Give Rise to a Sex-Based Hostile Work Environment, Second Circuit Holds
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Here is the complaint filed on August 8, 2014 against Urban Outfitters. Plaintiff alleges that she was subjected to sexual harassment by customers and store personnel, constructive discharge, and retaliation. (Update: In a June 9, 2015 decision, the court denied defendant’s motion to dismiss.) From her complaint: From the beginning of Plaintiff’s employment, Defendant [], despite being…

Read More Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Urban Outfitters
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Here are recently-filed papers – including the supporting Affirmation, Opposition, and Reply (without exhibits) – relating to plaintiff Hanna Bouveng’s request for a temporary restraining order and/or preliminary injunction preventing defendant Benjamin Wey from intimidating and harassing plaintiff and her family, friends, colleagues, and business acquaintances. In this sexual harassment lawsuit, plaintiff alleges that while employed…

Read More Sexual Harassment Plaintiff Alleges Witness Intimidation and Post-Termination Harassment by Alleged Harasser Benjamin Wey
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The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a federal lawsuit on July 31, 2014 against Seapod Pawnbrokers, a Brooklyn and Queens-based business, alleging that its owner harassed workers because of their sex, race, and ethnicity, and then fired them for complaining. According to the agency’s press release, the harassment included referring to employees, most of whom were…

Read More EEOC Lawsuit Alleges Sexual Harassment, Hostile Work Environment, Race Discrimination, National Origin Discrimination, and Retaliation Against Seapod Pawnbrokers
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In Lozada v. Elmont Fire Dept., decided July 22, 2014, the New York State Division of Human Rights found that complainant, volunteer firefighter Beatrie Lozada, was subjected to a sexually hostile work environment in violation of the New York State Human Rights Law. It dismissed, however, her claims that she was subject to discrimination based on…

Read More “Badonkadonk” Sexual Harassment Results in $60,000 Award to Volunteer Firefighter
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Here is the sexual harassment lawsuit, captioned Maysa Abdel-Razeq v. Alvarez & Marsal, Inc. et al., 14-CV-5601, recently filed in the Southern District of New York against defendants Alvarez & Marsal, Inc., Paul Aversano, Anthony Caporrino, and Joel Poretsky. Plaintiff alleges that she was subjected to hostile work environment sexual harassment and race discrimination, and then…

Read More Lawsuit Alleges Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment, Race Discrimination, and Retaliation Against Alvarez & Marsal and Others
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