In a recently-filed lawsuit, captioned Andoos v. City of New York, et al (EDNY 17-cv-00378 filed 1/23/17), a Staten Island Ferry Assistant Captain asserts claims of sexual harassment, sex discrimination, and retaliation under Title VII, the NYS Human Rights Law, and the NYC Human Rights Law.
Read More Sexual Harassment Lawsuit by Staten Island Ferry Assistant CaptainIn Ghonda v. Time Warner Cable, Inc., 16-cv-2610, 2017 WL 395111 (EDNY Jan. 27, 2017) – in which plaintiff asserts claims of employment (gender) discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation – the court denied plaintiff’s request to quash a subpoena seeking information relating to plaintiff’s prior employer. From the Order: Plaintiff’s contention that the mere service…
Read More Court Permits “Former Employer” Discovery in Sexual Harassment CaseIn Lawrence v. Sol G. Atlas Realty Co., No. 14-cv-3616, 2016 WL 7335612 (E.D.N.Y. Dec. 16, 2016), the court denied in part defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s retaliation claims. (This decision follows the Second Circuit’s October 28, 2016 decision vacating the district court’s order compelling arbitration of plaintiff’s claims.) Here are the facts, as summarized…
Read More Black Porter Sufficiently Pleads Retaliation, But Not Against an Individual Who Did Not Have the Requisite “Personal Involvement”In Fisher v. Mermaid Manor Home for Adults, LLC, No. 1:14-CV-03461-WFK-JO, 2016 WL 7330554 (E.D.N.Y. Dec. 16, 2016), the court upheld a jury verdict for an African American plaintiff on her employment discrimination claims. This employment discrimination case, asserted under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the NYC Human Rights Law, “began…
Read More Court Upholds Jury Verdict in “Instagram Planet of the Apes” National Origin Discrimination LawsuitIn a recent Brooklyn federal lawsuit, captioned Fischer v. WW Bakers LLC (EDNY 16-5103), plaintiff (a baker) asserts, inter alia, that defendant violated New York’s general whistleblower law, NY Labor Law 740, after he advised his employer about bug-infested flour. That statute, inter alia, provides: An employer shall not take any retaliatory personnel action against…
Read More Baker Asserts Whistleblower Claim Arising From Termination Following Complaint of Bug-Infested FlourIn Ilinca v. Bd. of Coop. Educ. Servs. of Nassau, No. 13-CV-3500(JS)(AYS), 2016 WL 6989780 (E.D.N.Y. Nov. 29, 2016), the court dismissed plaintiff’s sexual harassment (hostile work environment) claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The decision gives us a summary of the relevant law: [A] plaintiff states a Title VII…
Read More Sexual Harassment Hostile Work Environment Claim Dismissed; “Inappropriate and Grossly Unprofessional” Conduct Was Insufficiently SevereIn Blair v. N.Y. City Transit Auth., No. 14-CV-5091 (ENV)(PK), 2016 WL 6405900 (E.D.N.Y. Oct. 27, 2016), the court dismissed plaintiff’s claims of gender, age, disability, race, and national origin employment discrimination claims. Plaintiff, a black man, worked as a bus driver for the NYC Transit Authority. NYCTA terminated him after an incident involving alleged…
Read More Race Discrimination Claim Dismissed; Alleged White Comparator Was Not “Similarly Situated in All Material Respects” to PlaintiffHalloween is a fun holiday. Not so, however, for employees forced to endure sexual harassment during a company Halloween party. In Maher v. All. Mortg. Banking Corp., No. CV 06-5073 DRH ARL, 2010 WL 3516153 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 9, 2010), report and recommendation adopted, No. 06 CV 5073 DRH ARL, 2010 WL 3521921 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 1,…
Read More Sexual Harassment During Company Halloween Party Among Facts of Case Resulting in $170,000 Compensatory Damages AwardIn Palmer v. Shchegol, No. 14-cv-4406, 2016 WL 5678544 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 30, 2016), the court dismissed some, but not all, of plaintiff’s employment discrimination claims. Plaintiff – described in the decision as “a fifty-year-old United Kingdom native who describes herself as a dark-skinned black woman” – asserted claims of disparate treatment, discriminatory pay, and wrongful…
Read More Discriminatory Pay & Wrongful Termination Claims Sufficiently PleadedIn Romero v. City of N.Y., No. 16 CIV. 4157 (BMC), 2016 WL 6155935 (E.D.N.Y. Oct. 21, 2016), Eastern District of New York Judge Cogan dismissed the race discrimination claims of plaintiff, a firefighter, for various reasons, including under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) because they did not plausibly allege discrimination. From the decision: As…
Read More “Serpico” Reference is an Insufficient Stand-In For Facts; FDNY Plaintiff’s Race Discrimination Complaint Dismissed For Failure to State a Claim