In Rosas v. Balter Sales Co., Inc. et al, 12-CV-6557, 2018 WL 3199253 (S.D.N.Y. June 29, 2018), the court, inter alia, upheld a jury verdict – i.e., denied defendants’ motion for judgment as a matter of law under Fed. R. Civ. P. 50 – in plaintiff’s favor on his race-based hostile work environment claim.[1]The court also…
Read More Hostile Work Environment Claim Survives DismissalIn Rosas v. Balter Sales Co., Inc. et al, 12-CV-6557, 2018 WL 3199253 (S.D.N.Y. June 29, 2018), the court, inter alia, upheld a jury verdict – i.e., denied defendants’ motion for judgment as a matter of law under Fed. R. Civ. P. 50 – in plaintiff’s favor on his race discrimination (termination) claim.[1]It also denied defendants’…
Read More Race Discrimination Jury Verdict for Plaintiff UpheldA recent decision, Jackson v. Time Warner Cable Administration LLC, 2018 WL 2371024 (S.D.N.Y. 16-cv-8639 May 18, 2018), illustrates that the proper focus in an employment discrimination case is not whether an employer’s non-discriminatory explanation for the allegedly wrongful action is reliable or true, but rather what motivated the employer. In this case, defendant terminated…
Read More Employment Discrimination Case Against Time Warner Dismissed; Racial Motive Not ShownIn Duplan v. City of New York, 2018 WL 1996613 (2d Cir. April 30, 2018), the U.S. Court of Appeals held, inter alia, that plaintiff – a gay black Haitian man – sufficiently alleged retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The court initially held that plaintiff, a New York City…
Read More Title VII Retaliation Claim Survives Dismissal [Duplan v. City of New York]In Amaya v. Ballyshear LLC et al, 17-cv-1596, 2018 WL 1319003 (EDNY March 14, 2018), the court held, inter alia, that plaintiff (an Ecuadorian woman amd member of the Hispanic race) sufficiently alleged a race-based hostile work environment claim based on anti-Hispanic epithets. The court explained: [T]o survive a motion to dismiss, “a plaintiff need…
Read More Hostile Work Environment Claim Stated Under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 Based on Racial EpithetsIn Isakov v. HASC Ctr., Inc. Druker, No. 17-CV-5775 (BMC), 2018 WL 1114714 (E.D.N.Y. Feb. 27, 2018), the court held that plaintiff plausibly alleged a claim for religion-based employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Plaintiff asserted, inter alia, that he was treated differently/unfairly after he stopped practicing “Orthodox” Judaism,…
Read More Race, Religious Discrimination Claims Stated Against HASC Center; Plaintiff Alleged Mistreatment Due to Switching From “Orthodox” to “Traditional” JudaismIn Gachette v. Metro North-High Bridge, 2018 WL 456723 (2d Cir. Jan. 18, 2018) (Summary Order), the Second Circuit vacated the district court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s disparate treatment claims, in light of an unresolved discovery dispute. From the Order: At the start, we conclude that vacatur is appropriate as to Gachette’s claims of disparate treatment…
Read More Employment Discrimination Claims Should Not Have Been Dismissed in Light of Discovery DisputeIn Phillips v. City of New York, 2017 WL 6619152 (E.D.N.Y. Dec. 27, 2017), the court held (inter alia) that the plaintiff – an African American woman who formerly held the position of head of the NYC Fire Department’s Equal Employment Opportunity Office – supplied enough information to the court to survive summary judgment on her…
Read More FDNY EEO Head’s Race Discrimination Claim Survives Summary Judgment, Notwithstanding Comparator DissimilaritiesIn Lation v. Fetner Properties, Inc., 2017 WL 6550691 (S.D.N.Y., 2017), the court addressed claims by a Manhattan building concierge (plaintiff Lation) arising from harassment by a resident of, and an owner of one unit in, the condominium where plaintiff worked (defendant Thomas Chiu). The court compelled arbitration against Defendants 1212 Fifth Avenue Condominium and Fetner…
Read More Concierge Sufficiently Alleges Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, But Not Employment Discrimination, Claims Against Building ResidentIn Young v. Town of Islip et al, 2017 WL 5468752 (E.D.N.Y. Nov. 13, 2017), the court explained the difference between an “adverse employment action” in the discrimination context, vs. an “adverse employment action” in the retaliation context. The court held that the jury instructions on plaintiff’s retaliation claims – but not her race discrimination…
Read More New Trial on Retaliation Claims Granted Due to Erroneous Jury Charge; Alleged Incidents Should Have Been Considered in the Aggregate