Hostile Work Environment

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In Prophete-Camille v. Stericycle, Inc., No. 14-CV-7268(JS)(AKT), 2017 WL 570769 (E.D.N.Y. Feb. 13, 2017), the court denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s sexual harassment/hostile work environment claim. With respect to the issue of whether the workplace was sufficiently “hostile”, the court explained: The Court finds that Plaintiff has raised issues of fact on her…

Read More Sexual Harassment (Hostile Work Environment) Claim Survives Summary Judgment; Evidence Included Sexual Comments and References to Sexual Acts, Sexual Relationship
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Happy Valentine’s Day! While this holiday of (ahem) love may bring back fond memories of grade-school card and candy swapping, it’s important to remember that bringing romance into the workplace – even (or maybe especially) on Valentine’s Day – presents risks, most notably of a sexual harassment/hostile work environment lawsuit. Consider, for example, the case of Pugni…

Read More Valentine’s Day and the Workplace
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In Ghonda v. Time Warner Cable, Inc., 16-cv-2610, 2017 WL 395111 (EDNY Jan. 27, 2017) – in which plaintiff asserts claims of employment (gender) discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation – the court denied plaintiff’s request to quash a subpoena seeking information relating to plaintiff’s prior employer. From the Order: Plaintiff’s contention that the mere service…

Read More Court Permits “Former Employer” Discovery in Sexual Harassment Case
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A recent New York state court decision, Fernandez v. POP Displays & Active Staffing Services (NY Sup. Ct. NY Cty. 154516/2016 Jan. 5, 2017), illustrates the limitations on the geographic reach of the New York City Human Rights Law. The court granted defendant POP Display’s motion to dismiss under CPLR 3211(a)(2) for lack of subject…

Read More Court Dismisses NYC Human Rights Law Claims (Sexual Harassment Etc.) Against Non-NYC Company
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Here is the recently-filed lawsuit, captioned Springs v. City of New York et al (SDNY 17-cv-00451), in which a black firefighter alleges that he endured sexual hazing and race discrimination. Among other things, plaintiff alleges that one defendant told him “I don’t like you … blacks getting on the job this way. You don’t have good…

Read More Lawsuit Alleges Sexual Hazing and Race Discrimination at NY Fire Dept.
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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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Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to discriminate against an employee because of (among other protected characteristics) “sex.” The term “sexual harassment” typically conjures up images of a male boss acting inappropriately towards a female subordinate. This is one, but not the only,…

Read More Same-Sex Sexual Harassment
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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 employment discrimination cases, assuming a plaintiff sufficiently/plausibly alleges one or more claims in their complaint, the next procedural battleground is (usually) “summary judgment”. You can think of summary judgment as the last procedural hurdle – often after discovery is complete and all the facts are “in” – standing between a plaintiff and the holy grail…

Read More Surviving Summary Judgment: Sexual Harassment (Hostile Work Environment)
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