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Employment cases are often difficult to prove, and even the best-intentioned litigants with objectively reasonable factual and legal support for their claim(s) sometimes lose.  It happens.  Case outcomes are very difficult to predict, due to a variety of factors. A Memorandum and Order issued by Southern District Judge J. Paul Oetken last week in Tucker…

Read More Federal Judge Slams Lawyer For Making Baseless Allegations In Employment Case
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In a recent case, Chenzira v. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Med. Ctr., an Ohio federal court found that plaintiff stated a claim for religious discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Defendant fired plaintiff because plaintiff refused to get a flu shot.  Plaintiff alleged that this “violated her religious and philosophical convictions…

Read More Broccoli Worship? Federal Court Finds That Veganism Can Be A “Religion” Under Title VII
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In Hernandez v. Kaisman, 2012 NY Slip Op 09191 [103 AD3d 106], the Appellate Division, First Department recently clarified that hostile work environment claims brought under the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) must be analyzed separately from, and more broadly than, similar claims brought under state and federal law. In this case the motion court…

Read More First Department Reinstates Plaintiff’s Sexual Harassment/Hostile Work Environment Claims Under the NYC Human Rights Law
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The Second Circuit yesterday, in Swartz v. Insogna, vacated a summary judgment dismissing the plaintiff’s claims allegedly arising from giving police the middle finger.  (This is not the first time we have chronicled middle finger-inspired litigation.)  In its first footnote, the court briefly summarized the history of “giving the finger”, citing a case and a law review article discussing…

Read More Middle Finger Plaintiff Can Continue Suit Against Arresting Officers
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Condominium or co-op?  This distinction, familiar to purchasers of New York City real estate, was recently the basis for a notable decision in New York Labor Law jurisprudence. This week the New York Court of Appeals clarified the meaning of the term “owner” in Labor Law § 241(6).  In Guryev v. Tomchinsky, it held that…

Read More Condominium & Related Entities Were Not Labor Law § 241(6) “Owners”
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Seems like a straightforward question, right?  It’s the boss, the head honcho, the big cheese, the person who tells you what to do and (in some cases) is the subject of social media ranting.  However, the question is not so clear under federal anti-discrimination law, as illustrated by a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.…

Read More Who Is A “Supervisor”?
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In E.E.O.C. v. KarenKim, Inc., 116 Fair Empl Prac Cas (BNA) 385 (2d Cir. Oct. 19, 2012), No. 11-3309, the Second Circuit addressed when injunctive relief is proper to prevent further harassment.  Title VII itself provides for injunctive relief where a “court finds that the respondent has intentionally engaged in or is intentionally engaging in…

Read More Second Circuit: Injunctive Relief Should Have Been Granted In Harassment Case
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In honor of Halloween, I present to you Stambovsky v. Ackley, 169 A.D.2d 254 (App. Div. 1st Dept. 1991), the so-called “haunted house case”. There, the court – “moved by the spirit of equity” (that’s a quote) – allowed the buyer of an allegedly haunted house to seek rescission of the contract and recover his down payment.…

Read More Court: Ghosts Are Real! (Sort Of)
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Last week the Second Circuit, in Payne v. Jones, held that a jury’s $300,000 punitive damages award to a police beating victim was excessive.  It thus remanded for a new trial on punitive damages, unless plaintiff agreed to remit $200,000 and accept a punitive damages award totaling $100,000. After plaintiff was brought to the hospital,…

Read More A $200,000 Kick To The Groin
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On September 30, 2012, in Dinler v. City of New York, the Southern District of New York issued an opinion that largely favors the protesters who filed suit for alleged police abuses during the 2004 Republican National Convention. Significantly, the Court rejected the Defendants’ theory of “group probable cause”, and affirmed the requirement of individualized…

Read More Court Issues Major Victory to Protesters in RNC Litigation
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