In Sandifer v. U.S. Steel Corp., the Supreme Court – in an opinion authored by Justice Scalia – considered the meaning of the term “changing clothes” as used in Section 203(o) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 203(o). That statute provides: Hours Worked. In determining for the purposes of [29 U.S.C. §§ 206,…
Read More The Supreme Court Tells Us What “Changing Clothes” MeansIn Kemp v. CSX Transp., Inc., the Northern District of New York recently denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment on plaintiffs’ racially hostile work environment and disparate treatment claims. As to plaintiffs’ hostile work environment claims, the court held: Plaintiffs allege that they were subjected to vulgar racial language throughout their employment and often viewed…
Read More Citing “Vulgar Racial Language” and More Lenient Treatment of White Employees, Court Denies Summary Judgment on Plaintiff’s Race Discrimination and Hostile Work Environment ClaimsIn Thompson v. Futri Transportation Corp., the court dismissed a complaint filed by a Vespa scooter driver who was injured when he tried to “squeeze” past a taxi, which had pulled over to let a passenger out. Defendants argued that the “taxi cab did not cause the collision, and that Thompson’s overtaking, and squeezing past…
Read More “Doored” Vespa Driver’s Case DismissedIn Magdo v. Fidessa Corp., a New York state trial court recently held that plaintiff presented enough evidence to survive summary judgment on her gender/pregnancy discrimination and retaliation claims under the New York City Human Rights Law. Plaintiff claimed that after she told her supervisor about her pregnancy, he made derogatory comments to her, including…
Read More Citing Derogatory Comments About Pregnancy, Court Allows Discrimination and Retaliation Claims to ContinueIn honor of Super Bowl Sunday, here’s a case involving a football-related injury. In Bocelli v. County of Nassau, plaintiff sued after he sustained injuries while playing flag football in Stillwell Woods Park. He claimed that “as he was running, he slipped and fell upon an exposed sprinkler head and sustained injuries to his left knee and…
Read More Court Permits Football-Related Injury Claims to ContinueIn Perez v. City of New York, the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed the lower court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s car accident case on the ground of laches. Black’s Law Dictionary defines “laches” as the “unreasonable delay pursuing a right or claim…in a way that prejudices the [opposing] party”. The court, in a very short opinion,…
Read More Laches Results in Dismissal of 28-Year Old Car Accident CaseThe Appellate Division, First Department in Gural v. Fred Drasner recently addressed the following question: whether a part performance exception should be applied to contracts that are not capable of performance within one year of their making, which must be in writing pursuant to General Obligations Law § 5-701(a)(1). Noting its prior “inconsistent” decisions on…
Read More No Part-Performance Exception for Contracts Not Capable of Performance Within One Year of Their MakingIn Gomez v J.C. Penny Corp., Inc., the Appellate Division, First Department reversed a denial of summary judgment for defendant J.C. Penny, and directed a judgment in defendant’s favor dismissing the complaint. In this negligence case, Plaintiff alleges that she slipped and fell on water near the bottom of an escalator going from the third to…
Read More Evidence of Inspection and No Complaints Result in Dismissal of Slip/Fall Suit Against J.C. PennyIn Humphrey v. Park View Fifth Ave. Assoc. LLC, the court modified a lower court’s order to grant plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on liability on his Labor Law § 240(1) claim, and affirmed the denial of defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s common-law negligence and Labor Law § 200 claims. Plaintiff claimed that he…
Read More Court Holds in Favor of Injured Construction Worker on Labor Law 200 and 240(1) ClaimsIn Parker v. Dunn, the Supreme Court, Wayne County recently granted summary judgment for defendant Hazlitt’s 1852 Vineyards dismissing plaintiffs’ claims arising from a fatal motorcycle accident. The facts: The action arises from a motor vehicle accident which occurred on May 31, 2009, on State Route 414 in the Town of Hector, New York at approximately…
Read More Court Rejects Action Under “Dram Shop Act” Against Vineyard