In O’Grady v. Bluecrest Capital Mgmt. LLP, No. 15-CV-1108 SHS, 2015 WL 3740701 (S.D.N.Y. June 15, 2015), the court dismissed, under FRCP 12(b)(6), plaintiff’s claims for a bonus and severance pay. This case illustrates that courts will look to the terms of an employee’s employment agreement when assessing those claims. As to plaintiff’s claim for a…
Read More Court Rejects Terminated Employee’s Claim to Bonus and SeveranceIn Chaney v. Starbucks Corporation, 2015 WL 3883251 (SDNY June 23, 2015), a trip-and-fall case, the Southern District of New York granted Starbucks’ motion for summary judgment dismissing the case. The facts, from the opinion: On August 9, 2013, plaintiff John Chaney went to a Starbucks café in the Bronx for lunch. Upon entry, he…
Read More Starbucks Granted Dismissal in Phone Charger Trip/Fall CaseIn Rosas v. Alice’s Tea Cup LLC, 14-cv-8788 (SDNY July 6, 2015), the court emphasized that “the protections of the FLSA are available to citizens and undocumented workers alike”, and entered a protective order precluding defendants from seeking discovery of the plaintiffs’ immigration status, tax returns, or current employers. Plaintiffs asserted that defendants failed to pay them…
Read More Court Denies FLSA Defendants Access to Plaintiffs’ Immigration Status, Tax Returns, or Current EmployersOn June 29, 2015, a Manhattan federal jury awarded plaintiff Hanna Bouveng $18 million in her sexual harassment lawsuit against Benjamin Wey and his company, New York Global Group. This verdict is not necessarily the end of the matter; Judge Gardephe has already set a briefing schedule for post-trial motions. Here are the verdict form…
Read More Jury Awards Hanna Bouveng $18M in Sexual Harassment Suit Against Benjamin WeyIn Massie v. Metro. Museum of Art, No. 11-CV-9549 JPO, 2015 WL 3833839 (S.D.N.Y. June 22, 2015), the Southern District of New York reiterated that, when asserting a hostile work environment claim, [a] plaintiff need not show that the incidents rendered the work environment “unendurable” or “intolerable,” but she must, to survive a motion for summary…
Read More Court Dismisses Hostile Work Environment Claim Based on “Severe” (but “Isolated”) RemarksIn a sexual harassment lawsuit captioned Smalls v. Central Park Boathouse, LLC et al., 15-cv-4973 and filed in the Southern District of New York on June 25, 2015, plaintiff Akira Smalls alleges, among other things, that a manager asked her “Do you like anal?” and, after asking her where the ATM was located, told her that ATM…
Read More Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Central Park BoathouseThe recent Southern District of New York case of Amar v. New York City Health and Hospitals Corp., 14-cv-2503 (SDNY June 15, 2015) is instructive on pleading a hostile work environment claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In Amar, Judge Ramos held that the plaintiff, an African American woman employed by defendant as…
Read More Asserted Racial Epithets and Physical Threats Plausibly Allege Racially Hostile Work EnvironmentOn June 12, 2015, a federal jury awarded plaintiff Augustina Balu $300,000 in compensatory damages, and $25,000 in punitive damages, in her sexual harassment / hostile work environment lawsuit against the City of New York and NYPD employee Denis McAuliffe. Here is the jury’s verdict sheet in the case, captioned Balu v. City of New York et…
Read More Jury Awards $325K (Including Punitive Damages) to Plaintiff in Sexual Harassment / Hostile Work Environment Lawsuit Against the NYPDIn Catapano-Fox v. City of New York, No. 14 CIV. 8036 KPF, 2015 WL 3630725 (S.D.N.Y. June 11, 2015), the Southern District of New York denied defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s claim that she was fired in retaliation for complaining about sexual harassment. This decision provides a good overview of the legal principles governing the proper…
Read More Retaliation Claim, Based on Termination in Response to Sexual Harassment Complaints, May ProceedThe Southern District of New York recently denied defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint alleging sexual harassment, hostile work environment, and retaliation against Urban Outfitters. In Swiderski v. Urban Outfitters, 14-cv-6307, 2015 WL 3513088 (SDNY June 4, 2015), the court held that the plaintiff pleaded an actionable hostile work environment claim based on the conduct…
Read More Sexual Harassment/Hostile Work Environment Lawsuit (Based in Part on Customer Conduct) Against Urban Outfitters Continues