In Santiago v. Crown Heights Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, 2017 WL 4410807, at *4 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 30, 2017), the court held that a default judgment may be entered against an individual defendant on plaintiff’s claims of discrimination. As to plaintiff’s claims under the New York State and City Human Rights Laws, the court explained:…
Read More Employment Discrimination Claims Stated Against Individual DefendantIn Pouncy v. Advanced Focus LLC, 2017 WL 428094 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 25, 2017), the court (inter alia) granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s retaliation claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 1981, and the New York City Human Rights Law.[1]I wrote about the court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s…
Read More Retaliation Claims Dismissed Due to Absence of “Protected Activity”; Plaintiff’s Complaints Were Unrelated to a Legally Protected CharacteristicIn Pouncy v. Advanced Focus LLC, 2017 WL 428094 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 25, 2017), a race discrimination case, the court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s race-based hostile work environment claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 1981, and the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL). As…
Read More Hostile Work Environment Was Not “Because Of” Race; Summary Judgment Granted to DefendantIn Lamarr-Arruz & Ansoralli v. CVS Pharmacy, Inc., 15-cv-04261, 2017 WL 4280690 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 26, 2017), the court denied defendant CVS’s motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s hostile work environment claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, the New York State Human Rights Law, and the New York City Human Rights Law. Here I will focus…
Read More Race-Based Hostile Work Environment Claims Survive Summary Judgment; Court Clarifies Scope of 42 U.S.C. § 1981In Arcos v. New School University, 2017 WL 3868495, at *7 (S.D.N.Y., 2017), the court upheld a jury verdict that plaintiff was subjected to discrimination based on his race and national origin (Cuban/Hispanic) under Title VII, § 1981, the NYSHRL, and the NYCHRL. In sum, plaintiff – a Cuban-born Hispanic man – was a faculty member at…
Read More Court Upholds Jury Verdict in Cuban Professor’s Favor on Employment Discrimination ClaimsIn Yang Zhao v. Keuka College, 2017 WL 3917145 (W.D.N.Y., 2017), plaintiff – a U.S. Citizen of Chinese origin – alleges that she was denied tenure because of her ethnicity, race, and national origin. The court granted plaintiff’s motion to amend her complaint to add a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, finding that plaintiff…
Read More Chinese Professor Plausibly Alleges Intentional Discrimination Under 42 U.S.C. 1981; May Amend ComplaintIn a recent complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, captioned Allen v. Goldman Sachs, SDNY 17-cv-6195 (filed 8/16/17), plaintiff Rebecca Allen – a member of Goldman’s Private Wealth Management Division – alleges (inter alia) that “[a]s a result of [a] pattern and practice of discriminatory conduct, the few Black employees at the Bank are marginalized and…
Read More Race Discrimination Lawsuit Against Goldman SachsIn Allen v. City of N.Y., No. 16-560-CV, 2017 WL 2544520 (2d Cir. June 13, 2017) (Summary Order), the Second Circuit vacated in part the lower court’s order granting summary judgment to defendant. Here, plaintiff claims that he was not promoted because of his race and national origin and that he was retaliated against for complaining…
Read More City Employee Overcomes Summary Judgment on Race/National Origin Discrimination (Failure-to-Promote) Claim: Evidence Indicated That Plaintiff Was Qualified; Admission of Discrimination Was Not HearsayIn Wooding v. Winthrop University Hospital et al, No. 16-cv-4477, 2017 WL 2559942 (E.D.N.Y. June 12, 2017) (J. Spatt), the court granted in part and denied in part defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s claims under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). It held that plaintiff plausibly alleged various claims, including race discrimination, retaliation, and hostile…
Read More Race Discrimination Plausibly Alleged Against Winthrop University Hospital; Complaint Referred to Use of the Word “Nigger” and “Coded” Racial LanguageIn Berrie v. Bd. of Educ. of Port Chester-Rye Union Free Sch. Dist., No. 14-CV-6416 (CS), 2017 WL 2374363 (S.D.N.Y. May 31, 2017) (J. Seibel), the court, inter alia, granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s hostile work environment claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the New York State…
Read More Hostile Work Environment Claims Dismissed in Light of Plaintiff’s Failure to Utilize Harassment Reporting Procedures