Court: NDNY

by

In Karam v. Cty. of Rensselaer, New York, 13-cv-1018, 2016 WL 51252 (N.D.N.Y. Jan. 4, 2016), the court (among other things) granted defendants’ motion dismissing plaintiff’s claim that he was subjected to a hostile work environment claim based on his Arab ancestry. It explained: [O]nly two statements concerning Plaintiff’s ancestry were made within the applicable statute…

Read More Court Dismisses Hostile Work Environment Claim Based on Arab Ancestry
Share This:
by

Every legal claim has a “statute of limitations” – that is, a deadline for filing a lawsuit in court. Failure to commence an action by the applicable statute of limitations can be fatal and result in the loss of important rights. In employment discrimination litigation, one key deadline when asserting claims under, for example, Title…

Read More Age Discrimination Claim Was Timely; “Three Day” Mailing Presumption Rebutted
Share This:
by

In Lent v. CCNH d/b/a Cortland Care Center, decided November 16, 2015, the Northern District of New York awarded plaintiff damages following defendant’s default. As set forth in the court’s June 1, 2015 decision granting plaintiff’s motion for a default judgment (which I wrote about here), In this sexual harassment case, plaintiff alleged (among other…

Read More Court Explains $1.25M Emotional Distress Damage Award in Sexual Harassment/Hostile Work Environment Case
Share This:
by

In Busby v. Syracuse City Sch. Dist., No. 5:15-CV-1007 LEK/ATB, 2015 WL 5820972 (N.D.N.Y. Oct. 5, 2015), the court adopted the Magistrate Judge’s Report and dismissed plaintiff’s employment discrimination claims as insufficiently pled. There, plaintiff alleged that she was dismissed from her employment as a “School Monitor” at the McKinley–Brighton School in Syracuse after twenty…

Read More Failure to Allege Discriminatory Motivation Results in Dismissal of Complaint
Share This:
by

The Northern District of New York’s recent decision of Saile v. New York Dep’t of Motor Vehicles, No. 5:13-CV-1394 ATB, 2015 WL 6962688 (N.D.N.Y. Nov. 9, 2015) reminds us that a plaintiff alleging a sex-based hostile work environment must do more than merely allege that they were made “uncomfortable” by sexual comments – here, alleged…

Read More Alleged Lewd Comments About DMV Customers, Bowling Buttocks Text, Etc. Insufficient to Establish Hostile Work Environment
Share This:
by

In Szwalla v. Time Warner Cable, LLC, No. 3:13-CV-713 MAD/DEP, 2015 WL 5708538 (N.D.N.Y. Sept. 29, 2015), the court explained and applied the so-called “Faragher-Ellerth” affirmative defense to a hostile work environment claim. In this case, plaintiff (an account executive for the Time Warner defendants) alleged that defendants engaged in sexual harassment, subjected her to a…

Read More Court Applies “Faragher-Ellerth” Defense to Dismiss Plaintiff’s Sexual Harassment/Hostile Work Environment Title VII Claim
Share This:
by

In Stevens v. Rite Aid Corp., No. 6:13-CV-783, 2015 WL 5602949 (N.D.N.Y. Sept. 23, 2015), a disability discrimination case, plaintiff – a pharmacist working for Rite Aid – alleged that defendant violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the New York State Human Rights Law by discharging him because of his disability (trypanophobia), failing to provide him…

Read More Court Upholds Disability Discrimination Jury Verdict For for Needle-Fearing Pharmacist
Share This:
by

Subway has been associated with some bad press lately. Below is a sexual harassment lawsuit, captioned EEOC v. Draper Development LLC d/b/a Subway, 15-cv-00877 (NDNY 7/21/15), filed against an upstate Subway franchisee. The lawsuit alleges that Defendant violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and specifically that: Defendant … discriminated against the Charging…

Read More EEOC Files Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Upstate Subway Franchisee
Share This:
by

In Hexemer v. General Electric Co. et al., 2015 WL 3948418 (NDNY June 29, 2015), the court explained the framework for proving a retaliation claim under the New York State Human Rights Law and 42 USC § 1981: [A] plaintiff must first make out a prima facie case by showing that: (1) the employee engaged in…

Read More Evidence of “Shifting and Inconsistent Explanations” For Plaintiff’s Termination Supports Retaliation Claim
Share This:
by

In Rock v. Blaine, 2015 WL 3795886 (NDNY June 17, 2015), the court denied defendant State of New York’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s retaliation claim against it. Plaintiff, a corrections officer, sued the State of New York and three individuals under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, alleging retaliation for making a…

Read More Female Corrections Officer Sufficiently Alleges Retaliation Against the State of New York
Share This: