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Last week, federal Judge George B. Daniels upheld (in response to a Fourth Amendment challenge) NYPD “Interim Order 52”, which requires that a breathalyzer test be administered to any NYPD officer involved in a shooting that results in injury or death to a person in New York City.  The decision in Palladino et al. v. City…

Read More Court Upholds Requirement That NYPD Officers Undergo Breathalyzer Tests Following Shooting Incidents
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In MacMillan v. Millenium Broadway Hotel (SDNY June 11, 2012), the Southern District of New York found that the plaintiff successfully proved that he was subject to a racially hostile work environment.  While at work plaintiff encountered a voodoo doll with a “black face and pink lips” hanging from a bulletin board by a rope around…

Read More “Voodoo Doll Lynching” Race Discrimination Verdict Upheld
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In a June 7, 2012 decision in Arsenault v. New York State, the Appellate Division, Third Department dismissed plaintiffs’ claims (and reversed an earlier decision, which I wrote about here) arising from plaintiff’s decedent being struck and killed by falling rocks while hiking in a state park.  The Court of Claims had denied summary judgment…

Read More State Not Liable for Hiker Death
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On June 8, 2009, I wrote the following words in a resignation letter to the managing partner of Moses & Singer LLP: By this letter, I notify you that I resign my position at the Firm, effective today.  Today will be my last day. This was the first step towards establishing and building a law…

Read More Three Years Ago Today
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In an idiotic article entitled “Justice for Justin” (May 31, 2012), Bill O’Reilly claims that “[w]e absolutely need tort reform in this country”.  The focus of his anti-lawsuit tirade is the possibility of a lawsuit by a photographer who claims he was assaulted by Justin Bieber. O’Reilly writes: [T]he odds are that this is yet another…

Read More Celebrities and Tort Law
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Today an Appellate Division, Third Department panel held, in Yonaty v. Mincolla, that false accusations that one is gay, lesbian, or bisexual no longer qualify as defamation “per se”.  Defamation “per se” does not require proof of economic or pecuniary harm because statements falling into that category “are commonly recognized as injurious by their nature,…

Read More False Accusations of Homosexuality Held Not Defamatory Per Se
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On May 8, 2012, the New York Court of Appeals held, in Sullivan v. Harnisch, that a hedge fund compliance officer who claimed he was fired for internally objecting to allegedly improper sales of stock by the company’s CEO did not have a cause of action for wrongful termination.  Specifically, the plaintiff alleged that he was…

Read More No Exception to “At Will” Rule For Hedge Fund Compliance Officer’s Internal Complaint
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In Townsend v. Benjamin Enterprises (May 9, 2012), the Second Circuit – addressing two issues of first impression – held that (1) an internal complaint unconnected with an EEOC charge does not give rise to a retaliation claim under Title VII’s “participation” clause and (2) harassment by a company’s proxy or alter-ego deprives the company…

Read More Second Circuit Weighs in on Scope of Title VII Retaliation Claims and Proxy / Alter-Ego Liability
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Below is the response filed by Dominique Strauss-Kahn this week in the lawsuit brought against him by Nafissatou Diallo. Defendant’s counterclaims – that is, his affirmative claims against Ms. Nafissatou – begin on page 8.  Specifically, his counterclaim is for damages arising from Ms. Diallo “knowingly and intentionally making a false report to law enforcement…

Read More Dominique Strauss-Kahn Strikes Back Against Hotel Maid
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