Court: WDNY

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In Black v. Buffalo Meat Serv., Inc., No. 15CV49S, 2017 WL 1196469 (W.D.N.Y. Mar. 31, 2017) – a race/sex hostile work environment and constructive discharge case – the court ruled on the parties’ respective discovery motions. The facts, as summarized by the court: Plaintiff claims that defendants created a hostile work environment on the basis…

Read More Court Declines to Order Production of Plaintiff’s Tax Returns in Race/Sex Hostile Work Environment Case
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In Grigoryou v. Pallet Servs., Inc., No. 1:13-CV-526-RJA-MJR, 2017 WL 722534 (W.D.N.Y. Jan. 25, 2017), report and recommendation adopted, No. 13-CV-526-A, 2017 WL 712607 (W.D.N.Y. Feb. 23, 2017),[1]The below excerpts are from the 1/25/17 Amended Report & Recommendation. the court granted defendant’s motion for summary judgement and dismissed plaintiff’s age discrimination (unlawful termination and hostile…

Read More Age Discrimination (Wrongful Termination & Hostile Work Environment) Claims Dismissed; Alleged Wrongdoing Was Insufficiently Connected to Plaintiff’s Age
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In Ciulla-Noto v. Xerox Corp., No. 16-CV-6362-FPG, 2017 WL 491688 (W.D.N.Y. Feb. 7, 2017), the court dismissed plaintiff’s retaliation claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim. In sum, plaintiff filed an EEOC charge alleging disability and gender discrimination. About a year later, plaintiff was involved in an altercation with…

Read More Court Dismisses Retaliation Claim; Termination Closely Followed Plaintiff’s Involvement in Altercation at Work
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In Underwood v. Roswell Park Cancer Inst., No. 15-CV-684-FPG, 2017 WL 131740 (W.D.N.Y. Jan. 13, 2017), the court held that the plaintiff – an African American surgeon – plausibly alleged that he was subjected to a racially hostile work environment. “To state a claim for a racially hostile work environment, a plaintiff must plead facts…

Read More African American Surgeon Plausibly Alleges a Racially Hostile Work Environment
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In Wiesen v. Guaranteed Home Mortgage, Inc., No. 14-CV-6649, 2017 WL 131741 (W.D.N.Y. Jan. 13, 2017), the court denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s sexual harassment claims under Title VII. Plaintiff asserted that her alleged harasser (Schwaber) was in a supervisory position with respect to her as branch manager; defendant countered that Schwaber…

Read More Sexual Harassment Hostile Work Environment Claims Survive Summary Judgment in Light of Fact Issue as to Whether Alleged Harasser Was Plaintiff’s “Supervisor” or “Co-Worker”
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In Kasperek v. N.Y. State, Dep’t of Corr. & Cmty. Supervision, No. 16-CV-671V, 2017 WL 85426 (W.D.N.Y. Jan. 10, 2017), the court recommended the denial of defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s claim of sex-based hostile work environment. The facts (in part), as summarized by the court: The events pertaining to this case began on October…

Read More Penis Graffiti Among Allegations in Sufficiently-Alleged Sex-Based Hostile Work Environment Claim
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In Green v. Avis Budget Grp., Inc., No. 11-CV-00269V(F), 2017 WL 35452 (W.D.N.Y. Jan. 4, 2017), the court dismissed plaintiff’s employment discrimination (disparate treatment), hostile work environment, and retaliation claims. Here I’ll discuss the court’s evaluation of the “adverse employment action” element of the prima facie case[1]“To establish a prima facie case of employment discrimination…

Read More Criticism of Work, Failure to Provide Desired Schedule (Etc.) Were Not “Adverse Employment Actions”
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We’ve seen one judge warn a lawyer not to call their adversary an “asshole” in private correspondence. Now we have a decision imposing a $4,700 fine/sanction on a lawyer for (e.g.) calling their adversary a “racist” during a deposition. In Scott-Iverson v. Indep. Health Ass’n, Inc., No. 13-CV-451V(F), 2016 WL 7320067 (W.D.N.Y. Dec. 15, 2016), the…

Read More Court Imposes $4,700 Fine on Lawyer For (e.g.) Calling Adversary a “Racist” During Employment Discrimination Deposition
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In McCullough v. Xerox Corp., No. 12-CV-6405L, 2016 WL 7229134 (W.D.N.Y. Dec. 14, 2016), an upstate federal district court denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment as to her Equal Pay Act (EPA) claim arising out of her employment as a Human Resources Manager. The court summarized the law applicable to plaintiff’s unequal pay claims under the…

Read More Equal Pay Act Claim Survives Summary Judgment, Continues Against Xerox
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In Moll v. Telesector Res. Grp., Inc., No. 04-CV-0805S(SR), 2016 WL 6095792 (W.D.N.Y. Oct. 19, 2016), a sex discrimination/hostile work environment/retaliation case, the court ruled on the parties’ respective motions to compel discovery. (For more background on this case, you may wish to review the Second Circuit’s 2014 decision vacating the district court’s 2012 summary judgment…

Read More Court Rules on Social Media Discovery Request in Sexual Harassment Case
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