D Motion for Summary Judgment Denied

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In Abrams v. Department of Public Safety, decided July 14, 2014, the Second Circuit vacated summary judgment in defendants’ favor on plaintiff’s race discrimination claims under Title VII and the Equal Protection Clause (pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983). Plaintiff, an African American detective, argued that he was discriminated against by, among other things, not being…

Read More “Better Fit” Remarks Sufficient to Defeat Summary Judgment in Race Discrimination Case, Second Circuit Holds
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Kirkland v. Cablevision Systems, decided by the Second Circuit on July 25, 2014, is an example of when summary judgment is inappropriate in an employment discrimination case. The court vacated the district court’s grant of summary judgment for defendant employer Cablevision Systems on pro se plaintiff Garry Kirkland’s race discrimination and retaliation claims under Title VII of…

Read More Second Circuit Vacates Summary Judgment for Employer in Race Discrimination Case
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Goonan v. Federal Reserve Bank of New York, decided July 22, 2014, illustrates an employer’s obligation to reasonably accommodate employees with known disabilities and to engage in an “interactive process” to determine what accommodation(s) are appropriate. Plaintiff, who worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for 25 years, suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder…

Read More 9/11-Related PTSD Disability Discrimination Case Continues
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In Lyman v. New York and Presbyterian Hospital, decided July 14, 2014, the Southern District of New York denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s disability discrimination and retaliation claims. This decision illustrates that “[b]ecause direct evidence of an employer’s discriminatory intent will rarely be found, affidavits and depositions must be carefully scrutinized for circumstantial…

Read More “Problem” Employee Presents Enough Evidence of Disability Discrimination to Survive Summary Judgment
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In DiVetri v. ABM Janitorial Services (decided July 24, 2014) the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed the denial of defendants’ motion for summary judgment. In this personal injury case, plaintiff slipped and fell on water she tracked onto the marble lobby floor of a building she entered. The water came from a hose being used by defendant’s…

Read More Watering Sidewalk + Marble Floor + No Mats = Continuation of Slip/Fall Case
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In Sylvester v. Jimenez, an automobile accident case, Judge Bluth of the New York Supreme Court denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment that plaintiff did not sustain a “serious injury” under Insurance Law 5102(d). This was a two-car accident; plaintiff Sylvester was driving, and plaintiff Turner was a passenger, in one car, and defendant Jimenez…

Read More Failure to Address Asserted Injuries Results in Denial of Summary Judgment of no “Serious Injury” in Car Accident Case
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In DeSimone v. City of New York, decided July 3, 2014, the First Department held: Plaintiff’s Labor Law § 241(6) claim was improperly dismissed on the ground that plaintiff was not covered under the statute. Plaintiff testified that he was an onsite project manager, employed by one of multiple general contractors on the subject construction…

Read More Project Manager Covered By Labor Law 241(6) in Construction Accident Case, Even Though He Did Not Perform “Labor-Intense” Work
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A recent Eastern District decision, Sandvik v. Sears Holding/Sears Home Improvement Products, Inc., illustrates the nature and quantity of evidence necessary to overcome summary judgment in an age discrimination case under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act and its state/city law counterparts. Plaintiff – who worked for defendant for 38 years before his departure…

Read More Ageist Comments Support Discrimination Claim Against Sears
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In Henderson v. City of New York, plaintiff alleged that she tripped and fell on a manhole in a crosswalk at the intersection of Second Avenue and 74th Street in Manhattan. She claimed, in her notice of claim, that she fell due to a “raised, cracked, depressed, missing, broken and/or mis-leveled pavement and/or manhole cover…

Read More No Explicit Denial of Lack of Prior Written Notice Results in Denial of Summary Judgment to City in Trip/Fall Case
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In Shields v. First Ave. Bldrs. LLC, the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed the denial of defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s’ Labor Law § 241(6) claim. In this construction accident case: Plaintiff James Shields was cleaning a concrete pump, with the engine running, when a swing tube in the pump swivelled, severing his fingers.…

Read More Plaintiff Whose Fingers Were Severed While “Servicing” a Concrete Pump Survives Summary Judgment on Labor Law § 241(6) Claim
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