In American Atheists v. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Second Circuit yesterday affirmed the district court’s March 28, 2013 dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the display in the National September 11 Museum of a cross-shaped beam (known as the “Cross at Ground Zero”) recovered from the World Trade Center wreckage. Plaintiffs…
Read More Ground Zero Cross Can Stay, Second Circuit HoldsGoonan v. Federal Reserve Bank of New York, decided July 22, 2014, illustrates an employer’s obligation to reasonably accommodate employees with known disabilities and to engage in an “interactive process” to determine what accommodation(s) are appropriate. Plaintiff, who worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for 25 years, suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder…
Read More 9/11-Related PTSD Disability Discrimination Case ContinuesIn Lyman v. New York and Presbyterian Hospital, decided July 14, 2014, the Southern District of New York denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s disability discrimination and retaliation claims. This decision illustrates that “[b]ecause direct evidence of an employer’s discriminatory intent will rarely be found, affidavits and depositions must be carefully scrutinized for circumstantial…
Read More “Problem” Employee Presents Enough Evidence of Disability Discrimination to Survive Summary JudgmentIf you have been injured due to the negligence of a municipal entity (such as the City of New York), you will need to file a document known as a “Notice of Claim” within a fixed deadline after the accident or event in order to protect your rights. Failure to do so may result in dismissal…
Read More What is a “Notice of Claim”?In DiVetri v. ABM Janitorial Services (decided July 24, 2014) the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed the denial of defendants’ motion for summary judgment. In this personal injury case, plaintiff slipped and fell on water she tracked onto the marble lobby floor of a building she entered. The water came from a hose being used by defendant’s…
Read More Watering Sidewalk + Marble Floor + No Mats = Continuation of Slip/Fall CaseOn July 21, 2014, President Obama issued an Executive Order which grants protections to workers at federal contractors and in the federal government from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Read More President Obama Issues Executive Order Protecting LGBT Federal EmployeesHere is the recently-filed complaint against NYG Capital and its CEO Benjamin Wey. Plaintiff Hanna Bouveng alleges, among other things, that she “was repeatedly and consistently subjected to unsolicited sexual propositions and sexual commands, as well as sexual gropings, molestations, assault and battery, as well as stalking.”
Read More Sexual Harassment Lawsuit by Hanna Bouveng Against NYG Capital and Benjamin WeyIn Gomez v. Yussuf, a left-turn car accident case, the court dismissed plaintiff’s case, finding that plaintiff was the sole proximate cause of the accident. It described the accident as follows: Plaintiff was the driver of a car which hit a vehicle owned and operated by defendant at the intersection of Rockaway Boulevard and Beach 56th…
Read More Left Turn Accident Was All Plaintiff’s Fault, Court FindsHere’s the personal injury lawsuit recently filed by Ebrahim Noorani against Dylan’s Candy Bar. Plaintiff asserts that, while he was at defendant’s store in April 2013, he “was seriously injured when he bit into white chocolate which had a screw in it.”
Read More Screw Lawsuit Against Dylan’s Candy BarIn Haight v NYU Langone Med. Ctr. (decided June 27, 2014), the Southern District of New York held that plaintiff, a pediatric nurse, sufficiently pleaded claims for hostile work environment sexual harassment, disability discrimination, and negligent hiring/retention. Plaintiff alleged, among other things, that a co-worker discussed plaintiff’s medical problems with other NYU employees, put her hands…
Read More Nurse Sufficiently Alleges Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment