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An upstate trial court recently held, in King v. Cornell University, that defendant Cornell University was not entitled to summary judgment in a lawsuit brought by the parents of an intoxicated student (Khalil Jamal Godfrey King) who died after falling from a 200-foot tall cliff into the Fall Creek gorge on Cornell’s campus. The (tragic) facts,…

Read More Lawsuit Against Cornell Can Continue; Drunk Student Was Not “Hiking” When He Fell Off Cliff
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Here and below is the letter recently filed by the attorney for plaintiffs Victoria Burhans and Chloe Rivera in their sexual harassment lawsuit against Vito Lopez and Sheldon Silver.  It responds to Silver’s letter in which he outlines his proposed motion to dismiss the case. As to their Section 1983 claims, plaintiffs contend, in part: Silver contends that plaintiffs’…

Read More Plaintiffs Submit Further Details and Argument Supporting Claims Against Sheldon Silver in Vito Lopez Sexual Harassment Case
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In Muktadir v. Bevacco Inc., the Eastern District of New York recently denied defendants’ motion to dismiss in its entirety, holding that the plaintiff’ (who is represented by my colleague Bryan Arce) “easily satisf[ied]” the pleading standard for his race discrimination, national origin discrimination, religious discrimination, hostile work environment, retaliation, and individual liability claims. As to…

Read More Federal Judge Denies “Patently Meritless Motion” to Dismiss Discrimination, Hostile Work Environment, and Retaliation Claims
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Last week an upstate trial court granted petitioner’s request to undo his termination for drinking on the job.  The decision is Peterson v. City of Poughkeepsie. Petitioner Carleton Peterson was employed by the City of Poughkeepsie as a Street Supervisor.  On Christmas Eve 2009, while working his shift from 7:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., petitioner was…

Read More Court Rules That Termination for Drinking at Work Was Too Harsh a Penalty
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The Second Circuit, in Isabella v. Koubek, recently certified a question to the New York Court of Appeals involving an apparent conflict between two statutes: Section 29(6) of New York’s Workers’ Compensation Law, which provides that workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy of an employee injured by his co-employee’s negligence, and Section 388 of New…

Read More When Cars, and Laws, Collide
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In St. Jean v. Orient-Express Hotels, decided August 7, 2013, the Southern District of New York explained when an entity that is not the plaintiff’s “direct” employer is nevertheless liable for violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The court held that plaintiff adequately alleged that the defendant, while not her…

Read More Recent Decision Clarifies “Joint” and “Single” Employer Liability
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A recent SDNY decision, Stein v. Guardsmark LLC, explains how employers may comply with the “fluctuating workweek” method of paying overtime. Plaintiff Esther Stein served as the secretary to the president (defendant Ira A. Lipman) of defendant Guardsmark, which provides private security services. She claimed that she was denied overtime premiums to which she was…

Read More Court Rules That Defendant Correctly Paid Plaintiff Under the “Fluctuating Workweek” Method
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Below is the complaint recently filed by plaintiff John Gorman against Coviden Sales, LLC and Dale Kelly. Plaintiff alleges that he was treated unfairly and subjected to discrimination based on his disability, namely, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Specifically, plaintiff claims that after telling defendant Kelly that he is a Navy Veteran who served in Operation Desert Storm and…

Read More PTSD Disability Discrimination Lawsuit
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A recent Second Circuit decision, Dejesus v. HF Management Services, illustrates how detailed a federal complaint must be to sufficiently allege overtime violations under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the New York Labor Law. The court upheld the dismissal of plaintiff’s complaint because she did not “plausibly allege that she worked overtime without…

Read More Second Circuit Holds FLSA Overtime Allegations Insufficiently Pled
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In Shane v. Supervova New York Realty LLC (NY Sup. July 8, 2013), a stairway trip-and-fall case, the court denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment, finding triable issues of fact as to whether an outside stairway defect was “trivial”. Plaintiff, a guest at a NYC Sheraton Hotel, tripped on the stairs ascending to the landing leading…

Read More Court Finds Issues of Fact as to Whether 0.5-Inch Defect Was a “Trap” or Snare” and Hence Not “Trivial”
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