Court: SDNY

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The Southern District of New York recently decided Nelson v. City of New York, which it characterized as an atypical disability discrimination case that “raises several questions about the outer limits of federal disability law.” The court denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment (in part) with respect to plaintiff’s claims under (among other laws) the…

Read More NYPD Officer Can Continue Disability Discrimination Claims Against Defendants; No Showing That She Was a “Direct Threat” And Hence Unqualified
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In Viruet v. Port Jervis City School Dist., the Southern District of New York held that plaintiff, a Hispanic bus driver for defendant school district, presented enough evidence on her Title VII discrimination claim to defeat defendant’s motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff claimed that defendant refused to permit her to “bid” for a contract bus run,…

Read More Plaintiff Defeats Summary Judgment on National Origin, Race, and Color Discrimination Claims; Claims Not Precluded By Collective Bargaining Agreement
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Here and below is the letter recently filed by the attorney for plaintiffs Victoria Burhans and Chloe Rivera in their sexual harassment lawsuit against Vito Lopez and Sheldon Silver.  It responds to Silver’s letter in which he outlines his proposed motion to dismiss the case. As to their Section 1983 claims, plaintiffs contend, in part: Silver contends that plaintiffs’…

Read More Plaintiffs Submit Further Details and Argument Supporting Claims Against Sheldon Silver in Vito Lopez Sexual Harassment Case
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In St. Jean v. Orient-Express Hotels, decided August 7, 2013, the Southern District of New York explained when an entity that is not the plaintiff’s “direct” employer is nevertheless liable for violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The court held that plaintiff adequately alleged that the defendant, while not her…

Read More Recent Decision Clarifies “Joint” and “Single” Employer Liability
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A recent SDNY decision, Stein v. Guardsmark LLC, explains how employers may comply with the “fluctuating workweek” method of paying overtime. Plaintiff Esther Stein served as the secretary to the president (defendant Ira A. Lipman) of defendant Guardsmark, which provides private security services. She claimed that she was denied overtime premiums to which she was…

Read More Court Rules That Defendant Correctly Paid Plaintiff Under the “Fluctuating Workweek” Method
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Today Judge Scheindlin found the City of New York liable, under Section 1983 and Monell v. Dept. of Social Services of the City of New York, for violating plaintiffs’ constitutional rights in connection with its stop-and-frisk program.  (Gothamist article here.) Her 198-page opinion (which mercifully has a table of contents) setting forth her findings of fact and conclusions…

Read More Floyd Plaintiffs Win Stop-and-Frisk Case
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In Perez v. Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the Southern District of New York recently denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s claim that his termination violated the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, 18 U.S.C. § 1514A (SOX). Plaintiff, a Senior Manager of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at defendant who held a Ph.D and a master’s degree in organic chemistry,…

Read More Chemist’s Lawsuit Alleging Retaliatory Termination Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act Survives Dismissal
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In Thomas v. Public Storage Inc., 12-cv-8804, 957 F. Supp. 2d 496 (SDNY July 31, 2013), the Southern District of New York held that where an employee received notice of an employer’s arbitration policy at the beginning of her employment and continued to work there, the arbitration clause may be enforced – notwithstanding the employee’s argument…

Read More Arbitration Clause Enforced, Despite Plaintiff’s Argument That She Neither Saw Nor Signed It
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Below is the complaint filed by Ron Chalhon against Leg Avenue, Inc., Leg Avenue’s Creative Director Melody Tsai, and Leg Avenue’s Chief Marketing Officer Amy Tsai. In it he alleges discriminatory termination based on his Jewish religious beliefs and hostile work environment based on his religious beliefs and ethnicity, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act…

Read More Discrimination Lawsuit Alleges Anti-Jewish Bias Against Leg Avenue and Owners
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Plaintiff Ese O’Diah, a black man from Nigeria, sued his former employer Roastown Coffee and its owner Doug Shin for employment discrimination (alleging that he was fired because of his race, color, and national origin) and defamation. Defendants claimed that plaintiff was fired for stealing money from the store cash register. The Southern District of…

Read More Plaintiff Gets to Jury on Discrimination and Defamation Claims, Notwithstanding Theft Allegation
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