Blog

by

In Holcomb v. State Univ. of New York at Fredonia, No. 12CV673A, 2015 WL 1280442 (W.D.N.Y. Mar. 20, 2015), the Western District of New York denied defendants’ motion to compel the plaintiff to respond to questions relating to her romantic experiences with her colleagues. In this case, plaintiff sued under Title VII of the Civil…

Read More Sexual Harassment Victim’s Romantic Relationships With Colleagues Off-Limits for Discovery, Court Rules
Share This:
by

In Doe v. NYC Dept. of Education (decided March 24, 2015), the Appellate Division, First Dept. affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s complaint alleging improper sexual conduct between a teacher and a student. It was “undisputed that defendant Agosto, a substitute teacher at another school and the infant plaintiff’s track coach, had unlawful sexual intercourse with the…

Read More Underage Student Sex Case Dismissed
Share This:
by

In Derrick v. American Intl. Group, Inc. (App. Div. 1st Dept. March 19, 2015), the Appellate Division, First Department reversed the lower court’s order granting defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint and denying plaintiff’s motion to amend her complaint. In this case, plaintiff asserts claims for race, national origin, and gender discrimination and harassment. Citing NY…

Read More Adverse Unemployment Decision Does Not Preclude Discrimination Claims, Court Holds
Share This:
by

In a March 6, 2015 decision, the New York Supreme Court recently dismissed “Dating Naked” contestant Jessie Nizewitz’s $10 million lawsuit against Viacom. In sum, plaintiff alleged that although defendants promised her “that all frontal and genital nudity would be blurred out when the show was broadcast”, defendants “did not blur out her vagina and…

Read More “Dating Naked” $10 Million Lawsuit Dismissed
Share This:
by

A recent Southern District of New York decision, Daniel v. T&M Protection Resources LLC (SDNY 13-cv-4384, Feb. 19, 2015), illustrates that even conduct that rises to the level of what may be considered “crude” and “contemptible” may not be (and, in this case, was not) enough to survive summary judgment on a Title VII hostile…

Read More Court Explains That Even “Crude and Contemptible” Conduct May Not Rise to the Level of a Hostile Work Environment
Share This:
by

In Barris v. One Beard St., LLC, the Appellate Division, Second Department reversed the grant of summary judgment to defendants. In this personal injury/premises liability case, “[t]he injured plaintiff, who was then 12 years old and accompanied by his father, allegedly slipped and fell on loose and broken pieces of asphalt as he was running…

Read More IKEA Slip/Fall Case Continues
Share This:
by

Many employment discrimination cases involve allegations by an employee (or former employee) that they have endured discriminatory treatment based on one or more of that person’s protected characteristics. But what you may not know is that there is another type of claim – referred to in the case law as “associational discrimination” – based on the…

Read More Your Sick Daughter or Your Job? Associational Discrimination Claims Survive Summary Judgment
Share This:
by

More lawyers (allegedly) behaving badly. Here is the complaint, captioned Chechelnitsky v. McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP, SDNY 15-cv-01777 (March 10, 2015), filed in the Southern District of New York on March 10, 2015 containing allegations of sexual harassment by an associate attorney against Newark, NJ-based law firm McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter. Plaintiff…

Read More Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Law Firm McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter
Share This: