In Matter of James v. New York City Dept. of Corr., 2019 NY Slip Op 31748(U), 158147/2018 (NY Sup. Ct. NY Cty. June 19, 2019), the court held that the petitioner, a corrections officer, failed to demonstrate that the Firearms Review Board’s denial of his application to carry a firearm was arbitrary and capricious and…
Read More Firearm Application Denial Not Discriminatory, Court HoldsIn Reilly v. First Niagara Bank, N.A., 2019 NY Slip Op 04974 (App. Div. 2nd Dept. June 19, 2019), the court affirmed the dismissal – for failure to state a claim under CPLR 3211(a)(7) – of plaintiff’s sex-based discrimination and hostile work environment claims under the New York State Human Rights Law, Executive Law §…
Read More Sex Discrimination, Hostile Work Environment Dismissal AffirmedIn Desouza v. Office of Children and Family Services, 2019 WL 2477796 (E.D.N.Y. June 12, 2019), the court clarified differences between/among the various theories available to a plaintiff in a gender discrimination/sexual harassment case. It explained (paragraphing altered): Though claims challenging disparate treatment, quid pro quo sexual harassment, and hostile work environment are all claims of…
Read More Court Clarifies Difference Between “Hostile Work Environment” and “Disparate Treatment” Gender Discrimination Claims; Absence of “Adverse Employment Action” Results in DismissalFrom MARIOS PANAYIOTOU, Plaintiff, v. N.Y.C. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, Defendant., 2019 WL 2453438, at *5 (E.D.N.Y., 2019): As to the alleged national origin- and age-based animus, the incidents as described are not severe or pervasive enough to support a hostile work environment claim. Again, the plaintiff cites the principal’s instruction to “speak clearly” – an…
Read More National Origin- and Age-Based Hostile Work Environment Claims DismissedIn Alexander v. Program Development Services, Inc., 18-cv-1433, 2019 WL 2436436 (EDNY June 10, 2019), the court, inter alia, dismissed plaintiff’s hostile work environment sexual harassment claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. From the decision (paragraphing altered): Plaintiff’s hostile work environment claim based on Fiddler’s sexually explicit and profane conduct…
Read More “Vulgar” Conduct Not “Bad Enough” to Make Out Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment ClaimIn Soto v. Marist College, 2019 WL 2371713 (SDNY June 5, 2019), the court, inter alia, dismissed plaintiff’s race-based hostile work environment claim. From the decision: Even liberally construed, the conduct alleged here, to the extent it demonstrates racial hostility at all, is “quintessentially episodic.” Harrison v. State Univ. of N.Y. Downstate Med. Ctr., No.…
Read More Hostile Work Environment Claim Dismissed; Alleged Racial Conduct Was “Episodic”In Lam v. New York City Department of Education, 18-cv-2756, 2019 WL 2327655, (S.D.N.Y. May 30, 2019), the court, inter alia, dismissed plaintiff’s Americans with Disabilities-based hostile work environment claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). In this case, plaintiff, a special education teacher, alleges that she suffers from anxiety, depression, degenerative spine or…
Read More Disability-Based Hostile Work Environment Claim Against NYCDOE DismissedIn Hindi and Aljader v. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, 14-cv-8984, 2019 WL 2325969 (SDNY May 30, 2019), the court, inter alia, granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiffs’ religion- and national origin-based hostile work environment claims. Plaintiffs’ allegations included having a picture of one’s face superimposed onto a picture…
Read More Hostile Work Environment Claim Dismissed; “Al-Qaeda” and Other Remarks Not “Severe” or “Pervasive”In Fletcher v. ABM Building Value, 2019 WL 2288327 (2d May 29, 2019) (Summary Order), the court affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s discrimination, hostile work environment, and retaliation claims. Plaintiff alleged, inter alia, that her direct supervisor and two other supervisors “made comments motivated by her race, gender, and sex, including calling her a ‘bitch’…
Read More Hostile Work Environment Claim Dismissal Affirmed; Alleged Insults Insufficiently “Severe or Pervasive”In Williams v. County of Nassau et al, 15-cv-7098, 2019 WL 2270518 (E.D.N.Y. May 28, 2019), the court, inter alia, granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s race-based hostile work environment claim. Included among the evidence presented by plaintiff were “etchings” of the letters “KKK” and a half-finished swastika; “jokes” about the KKK standing…
Read More Hostile Work Environment Claim Dismissed; Presence of KKK, Swastika Etchings Insufficient