A recent Eastern District of New York decision, Berroyer v. U.S., illustrates that paying taxes can be literally painful. Plaintiff and his wife sued the United States of America under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b), seeking recovery for injuries sustained during a meeting with an IRS auditor. Plaintiff was injured when “his foot became caught…
Read More Fall in IRS Office Results in $712,000 AwardIn Xiong Chen v. Weiqi Zhang, the Eastern District of New York recently denied both parties’ motions for summary judgment. Plaintiff worked as a waiter for Andy’s Restaurant in Brooklyn and made $150 per week before tips. There were no records detailing plaintiff’s employment, his weekly work schedule, the hours he worked, or the money he…
Read More Factual Issues Preclude Summary Judgment in Overtime CaseIn Smith v. Town of Hempstead Dept. of Sanitation Sanitary District No. 2, decided November 16, 2013, the Eastern District of New York discussed the application of the Supreme Court’s recent Nassar decision in the context of a summary judgment motion. Nassar modified the standard for proving retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of…
Read More Plaintiff Presented Sufficient Evidence of Retaliation to Survive Summary Judgment Under New “But For” Causation StandardIn Knight v. State University of New York at Stony Brook, the Eastern District of New York recently dismissed plaintiff’s race discrimination and retaliation claims, on the ground that plaintiff did not sufficiently allege that he was employed by the defendant. Plaintiff alleged that he worked as an electrician at a construction project for defendant…
Read More Court Dismisses Race Discrimination Case Because Plaintiff Didn’t Sufficiently Allege That He Was Employed by DefendantIn Agosta v. Suffolk County (Nov. 8, 2013), the Eastern District of New York dismissed plaintiff’s claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) because he failed to exhaust his administrative remedies in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Plaintiff alleged two ADA causes of action: First, the Plaintiff claims that the [defendants] maliciously, intentionally and/or recklessly violated the…
Read More Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies at the EEOC Leads to Dismissal of Americans with Disabilities Act Discrimination ClaimIn a lawsuit captioned Thomas v. City of New York, EDNY 13-cv-6139 (filed 11/6/13), plaintiff Justin Thomas – a School of Visual Arts senior – alleges that he was unlawfully arrested while filming the exterior of the NYPD’s 72nd Precinct station house for his senior class video project. Here is the Gothamist article with embedded video footage…
Read More Visual Arts Student Files Civil Rights Lawsuit Following Arrest for Filming NYPD PrecinctIn a recent case, SJS Distribution Systems v. Sam’s Club (decided October 11, 2013), the Eastern District of New York discussed and applied the doctrine of “spoliation” as it relates to discovery in civil litigation. There, plaintiff argued that it “discovered a discrepancy between the packaging of the diapers that it ordered and some of…
Read More Court Imposes Sanctions For Evidence Spoliation in Diaper CaseA case recently decided by the Eastern District of New York, Smith v NYC Health and Hosp Corp., 10-cv-714 (EDNY June 18, 2013), illustrates the somewhat difficult task faced by employment discrimination plaintiffs and confirms that not all workplace adversity is actionable. In short, the law does not impose a “general civility code which prohibits all…
Read More Court Rejects Plaintiff’s Hostile Work Environment and Retaliation ClaimsCrump v. NBTY, Inc. et al., 10-cv-632 (WFK) (ETB) (EDNY March 1, 2012) illustrates that even a single, facially neutral (but arguably racist) remark by a supervisor may be enough to proceed to a jury trial on a Title VII discrimination claim. Defendant contended that it fired plaintiff for theft and for improperly using a…
Read More Court Allows Race Discrimination Claim, Based on Single Racist Remark, to Proceed to Jury TrialIn Briggs v. Women in Need, Inc, 819 F.Supp.2d 119 (2011), the court denied defendant’s FRCP 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint alleging discrimination under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) by her nonprofit employer. The Facts Plaintiff advised her employer of her pregnancy in March 2007, went on medical leave due to her high-risk pregnancy…
Read More Plaintiff May Press Pregnancy Discrimination Claims Against Non-Profit Women in Need Inc.