Today Judge Scheindlin found the City of New York liable, under Section 1983 and Monell v. Dept. of Social Services of the City of New York, for violating plaintiffs’ constitutional rights in connection with its stop-and-frisk program. (Gothamist article here.) Her 198-page opinion (which mercifully has a table of contents) setting forth her findings of fact and conclusions…
Read More Floyd Plaintiffs Win Stop-and-Frisk CaseIn Woo v. United Nations Intl. School, 2013 NY Slip Op 51167(U) (N.Y. Sup. Ct. July 11, 2013), the court dismissed a personal injury action brought by a high school baseball player. Plaintiff Woo was injured when, as he was preparing to catch a ball thrown by plaintiff’s teammate DeRosa, the ball “glanced off the outer portion…
Read More High School Baseball Player Assumed Risk of Injury; Complaint DismissedIn a striking victory for free speech, a Manhattan trial court judge recently dismissed a lawsuit brought by TriBeCa residents against photographer Arne Svenson after he surreptitiously photographed them in their homes and used the photos in an art exhibit called “The Neighbors”. Judge Rakower’s August 5, 2013 opinion dismissing the case in Foster v.…
Read More Citing Free Speech, Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Photographer Who Took Secret Pictures of NeighborsIn Albano v. Stein, a rear-end collision case, a Brooklyn trial court denied summary judgment to defendants on the issues of liability, serious injury, and causation. There, plaintiff Albano’s car was struck from behind by a car owned by Atkins and driven by Stein: Ms. Albano was either backing or had just backed her vehicle…
Read More Brooklyn Car Accident Case Survives Summary Judgment on Liability and “Serious Injury” ThresholdGovernor Cuomo recently signed a bill (A6554) that amends New York’s protective order statute, CPLR § 3103(a), to permit non-parties to object to discovery. According to the bill’s accompanying memorandum: This measure would amend CPLR § 3103(a) to expand the delineated persons who may seek the remedy of a protective order in regard to the use of discovery…
Read More New Bill Authorizes Non-Parties to Object to DiscoveryA trial court recently denied the motions by Bob’s Discount Furniture and Costco Wholesale Corporation to dismiss claims arising from Marion Hedges being struck by a shopping cart dropped from the fourth floor of the East River Plaza shopping complex (pictured). The complaint in Hedges v. East River Plaza LLC is here, my earlier post on…
Read More Marion Hedges’ Lawsuit Arising From Dropped Shopping Cart Survives Summary JudgmentIn Perez v. Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the Southern District of New York recently denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s claim that his termination violated the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, 18 U.S.C. § 1514A (SOX). Plaintiff, a Senior Manager of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at defendant who held a Ph.D and a master’s degree in organic chemistry,…
Read More Chemist’s Lawsuit Alleging Retaliatory Termination Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act Survives DismissalIn Thomas v. Public Storage Inc., 12-cv-8804, 957 F. Supp. 2d 496 (SDNY July 31, 2013), the Southern District of New York held that where an employee received notice of an employer’s arbitration policy at the beginning of her employment and continued to work there, the arbitration clause may be enforced – notwithstanding the employee’s argument…
Read More Arbitration Clause Enforced, Despite Plaintiff’s Argument That She Neither Saw Nor Signed ItBelow is the complaint filed by Ron Chalhon against Leg Avenue, Inc., Leg Avenue’s Creative Director Melody Tsai, and Leg Avenue’s Chief Marketing Officer Amy Tsai. In it he alleges discriminatory termination based on his Jewish religious beliefs and hostile work environment based on his religious beliefs and ethnicity, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act…
Read More Discrimination Lawsuit Alleges Anti-Jewish Bias Against Leg Avenue and OwnersA Staten Island trial court recently dismissed a lawsuit arising from injuries sustained by an 11-year old judo student (Anthony Morales, Jr.) while training with a more senior, older, heavier, and taller student during a class. The case is Morales v. Longview Academy of Extreme Martial Arts, Inc., decided July 29, 2013. The injury occurred when…
Read More Foot Swept, Risk Assumed, Lawsuit Dismissed