Starting September 6, 2018, all New York City employers will be required to display an anti-sexual harassment rights and responsibilities poster and develop a sexual harassment information sheet to be distributed to individual employees at the time of their hire. This amendment, which is part of the Stop Sexual Harassment in NYC Act, will be codified at N.Y.C. Administrative…
Read More NYC Sexual Harassment Poster RequirementIn a Bronx Supreme Court lawsuit, captioned White v. Lighthouse Academies, Inc., INdex No. 29057/2018E (filed August 6, 2018), plaintiff – a teacher – alleges that she was subjected to retaliation following her complaints about sexually inappropriate comments by a student.
Read More Lawsuit: Teacher Alleges Retaliation Following Complaints of Sexual Harassment by StudenIn Karimian v. Time Equities, Inc., 2018 NY Slip Op 05583 (App. Div. 2nd Dept. Aug. 1, 2018), the court, inter alia, affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s claims of employment discrimination, hostile work environment, and retaliation. The court explained that while “a cause of action asserted pursuant to NYCHRL must be analyzed independently from similar or identical…
Read More NYC Human Rights Law Claims Barred by Collateral Estoppel [Karimian v. Time Equities]In McLeod v. General Vision Services, Inc. et al, 13-cv-6824, 2018 WL 3745662 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 6, 2018), the court, inter alia, granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s race discrimination claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 42 USC 1981, but denied it with respect to plaintiff’s race discrimination claim…
Read More Race Discrimination (Termination) Claim Survives Under City, But Not Federal, LawIn McLeod v. General Vision Services, Inc. et al, 13-cv-6824, 2018 WL 3745662 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 6, 2018), the court, inter alia, denied defendants’ motion on plaintiff’s race- and age-based hostile work environment claims. The court noted – in the portion of the decision where it assessed plaintiff’s race discrimination claims[1]The court dismissed plaintiff’s race discrimination claims…
Read More Hostile Work Environment Claim Survives Summary Judgment; Evidence Included Racial EpithetsIn Spano v. New Team LLC, No. 153586/16, 2018 WL 3646977, 2018 N.Y. Slip Op. 31829(U) (Sup Ct, New York County Aug. 01, 2018), plaintiff alleged that defendants failed to hire and promote her because she was not a first-generation Italian, and that defendants improperly terminated her after she complained of discriminatory conduct. The court, inter…
Read More Citing Preference for “First Generation Italian”, Court Denies Motion to Dismiss Employment Discrimination ClaimIn Mohan v. City of New York et al, 17-cv-3820, 2018 WL 3711821 (SDNY Aug. 3, 2018), the court, inter alia, dismissed plaintiff’s race-based hostile work environment claim. The court began by reciting the well-established “black letter” law applicable to hostile work environment claims: A hostile work environment claim is composed of a series of separate acts…
Read More Hostile Work Environment Claim Dismissed; Secondhand Knowledge of “Black Guy” Comment InsufficientIn Thomas v. Jonathan Mintz, Commissioner New York City Department of Consumer Affairs and the City of New York, 2018 NY Slip Op 51169(U), 2018 WL 3652302 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. N.Y. Cty. Aug. 1, 2018), the court, inter alia, dismissed plaintiff’s race- and sex-based hostile work environment claims under the New York State and City Human Rights…
Read More Race, Sex-Based Hostile Work Environment Claims Dismissed; “Sporadic Hostile Behavior” InsufficientIn Suri v. Grey Global Group, Inc., 2018 NY Slip Op 05627 (App. Div. 1st Dept. August 2, 2018), the Appellate Division, First Department, modified a lower court decision, finding that summary judgment was improperly granted to defendant on plaintiff’s sexual harassment claim under the NYC Human Rights Law.[1]It nonetheless agreed that the lower court properly…
Read More Hostile Work Environment / Sexual Harassment Claim Under the NYC Human Rights Law Resurrected From Summary Judgment DismissalThe fact pattern underlying the court’s decision in Maidana v. Boston Culinary Group, Inc., 16-cv-2342, 2018 WL 3614111 (E.D.N.Y. July 27, 2018), are (to say the least) disturbing: Plaintiff worked as a bartender for Defendant’s Fig’s Café located in LaGuardia Airport, Terminal B (hereinafter “Fig’s Café” or “Defendant”). (See Compl. ¶ 8–10.) An incident occurred…
Read More Court Dismisses LAG Bartender’s Discrimination Claim Following Alleged Customer Harassment