Yesterday SCOTUS granted certiorari in a case brought by a white plaintiff challenging the University of Texas at Austin’s use of race in its admission decisions. The Question Presented, as set forth here, is: “Whether this Court’s decisions interpreting the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, including Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 (2003),…
Read More SCOTUS agrees to hear affirmative action caseA recent decision by a New York trial court – Alicea v. JetBlue Airways Corp. – analyzes issues that commonly arise in a slip-and-fall case where the accident occurs in an area (here, JFK airport) where the rights, duties, and obligations of various parties intersect. These issues include: (1) the duties owed by an out-of-possession…
Read More Court allows JFK traveler’s slip/fall action to continueBelow is a copy of the complaint filed on Wednesday, January 25th in New York State court against New York University and James Stuckey by Stephanie Bonadio, a director at NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies. Plaintiff alleged that NYU advised her “that her job no longer existed and that there was no specific…
Read More NYU Sexual Harassment LawsuitOn January 23, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court held (in U.S. v. Jones; decision below) that the government’s “installation of a GPS device on a target’s vehicle, and its use of that device to monitor the vehicle’s movements, constitutes a ‘search’” within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. Central to the Court’s analysis and conclusion…
Read More Supreme Court Holds That Affixing GPS Tracking Device to a Car Constitutes a Fourth Amendment “Search”In Connolly v. Napoli Kaiser Bern LLP, 2012 NY Slip Op 50075(U) (NY Sup Ct. NY Cty. 105224/05) (J. Madden), the court held that plaintiff (an attorney) presented sufficient evidence – pursuant to the narrow public policy exception to the “at-will” employment rule established by the Court of Appeals in Wieder v. Skala, 80 NY2d…
Read More Lawyer’s Wrongful Termination Suit Survives Under Narrow Public Policy Exception to “At Will” Employment RuleA state appellate court recently held that the New York statute that requires certain health clubs in the State of New York to provide an automated external defibrillator (AED) device, as well as a person trained in its use, also imposes an affirmative duty of care upon said clubs so as to give rise to…
Read More “Death by Gym” Less Likely Now – Court Imposes Affirmative Duty to Use DefibrillatorLast Wednesday the U.S. Supreme Court (scroll down for decision) explored the interaction between the laws prohibiting employment discrimination (here, the ADA), on the one hand, and the First Amendment’s command that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”, on the other. The Supreme Court Recognizes…
Read More Supreme Court Recognizes “Ministerial Exception” to Anti-Discrimination LawsIn Hazen v. Hill Betts & Nash, 2012 WL 19388 (Jan. 5, 2012), the Appellate Division (First Dept.) applied the principle “that the New York State Human Rights Law does not immunize disabled employees from discipline or discharge for incidents of misconduct in the workplace”. Attorney Hazen charged hotel rooms, limousines, alcohol, adult movies and…
Read More Bipolar lawyer’s “disability” does not excuse misconductIn Cerciello v. Admiral Ins. Brokerage Corp., plaintiff alleged sexual harassment, hostile work environment, and retaliation. Defendants filed two counterclaims, respectively seeking (1) sanctions for frivolous litigation conduct and (2) “recovery of wages paid to the plaintiff during her last year of employment on the ground … that the plaintiff failed to perform the tasks…
Read More Court Denies Employer Recovery of Wages Earned by Alleged Disloyal EmployeeIn my plaintiff-centric practice, my opening move – or rather, in keeping with the “litigation is war” analogy, “shot across the bow” – is, more often than not, a demand letter. At worst, such a letter will be ignored by one’s adversary; at best, it may lead to a lucrative settlement before litigation expenses kick…
Read More Demand Letter Accusing Hewlett Packard CEO Mark Hurd of Sexual Harassment