Judge: Valerie Caproni

In Jean-Pierre v. Citizen Watch Company of America, Inc., 18-CV-0507, 2019 WL 5887479 (S.D.N.Y., 2019), the court – invoking the principle that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is not a “general civility code for the American workplace” – dismissed plaintiff’s discrimination claims. It summarized the law in this regard: In determining…

Read More Discrimination Claims Dismissed; While “Inappropriate”, Comments Were Non-Actionable
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In Abreu et al v. Fairway Market LLC et al, 17-cv-9532, 2018 WL 3579107 (S.D.N.Y. July 24, 2018), the court granted defendants’ motion to compel arbitration of plaintiffs’ employment discrimination claims under the  Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. In this case, plaintiffs alleged “that Fairway Market and its employees discriminated and…

Read More Court Grants Motion to Compel Arbitration; Economic Duress Argument Rejected
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In Gracia v. City of NY, 16-CV-7329, 2017 WL 4286319 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 26, 2017) (J. Caproni), the court held that a release signed by plaintiff – a female NYPD officer – to resolve a personal injury slip-and-fall case was broad enough to encompass claims for gender discrimination sexual harassment, hostile work environment, and retaliation. In…

Read More Personal Injury Release Held Broad Enough to Cover Employment Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, and Retaliation Claims
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In Batiste v. The City University of New York, No. 16-CV-3358 (VEC), 2017 WL 2912525 (S.D.N.Y. July 7, 2017) (J. Caproni), the court dismissed plaintiff’s discrimination, hostile work environment, and retaliation claims. Among other things, it held that plaintiff failed to exhaust her administrative remedies in the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). “To present a…

Read More Hostile Work Environment Claim Dismissed as Not Administratively Exhausted at the EEOC
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In Bien-Aime v. Equity Residential, No. 15-CV-1485 (VEC), 2017 WL 696695 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 22, 2017), the court granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment as to plaintiff’s disability discrimination claims (under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL), and the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL), but denied…

Read More Manhattan Building Porter’s ADA Retaliation Claim Survives Summary Judgment; Disability Discrimination Claims Dismissed
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The Southern District of New York’s recent decision in McCray v. Project Renewal, Inc., 15-cv-8494, 2017 WL 715010 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 22, 2017) (Judge Caproni) serves as another reminder of the procedural hurdles that must be overcome in order to assert an employment discrimination claim in federal court. Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, sued his former employer, Defendant Project Renewal,…

Read More Court Dismisses ADA Disability Discrimination Claim as Unexhausted, Title VII Race Discrimination Claim as Insufficiently Pled
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In Fox v. New York City Dep’t of Educ., No. 13-CV-3204 VEC, 2015 WL 4991878 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 20, 2015), the court dismissed claims asserted by plaintiff – a former guidance counselor at P.S. 150 – of religious discrimination, race discrimination, age discrimination, hostile work environment, and sexual harassment. As to plaintiff’s religious discrimination claim, the court…

Read More Guidance Counselor’s Discrimination, Sexual Harassment Claims Dismissed
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A lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York, captioned Lampley et al v. Alexander Rojas and the City of New York, SDNY 14-cv-8832 (Nov. 6, 2014), alleges that a NYPD lieutenant, Alexander Rojas, subjected plaintiffs, 3 NYPD officers, to “egregious sexual harassment”, including groping the intimate areas of plaintiffs’ bodies; displaying to plaintiffs…

Read More NYPD Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Includes Allegations of Groping, Masturbation, and Penis Exposure
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In Johnson v. City University of New York, decided Sept. 8, 2014, the Southern District of New York once again clarified that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not prohibit bullying and harassment that is unconnected with legally-protected characteristics. The court’s first paragraph summarizes the law nicely: Bullying and harassment have no…

Read More “Bullying” and “Harassment” Unconnected to Membership in a Protected Class Not Actionable Under Title VII
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In Shafer v. The American University in Cairo, plaintiff – a tenure-track Assistant Professor – alleged that she was subjected to a hostile work environment, demoted, and discriminated against relative to tenure as a result of her identity as a white American Muslim woman, and then retaliated against for complaining about discrimination.  The court granted summary judgment to defendants…

Read More Retaliation, But Not Religious Discrimination, Claims Continue Against American University in Cairo
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