Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

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The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Seapod Pawnbrokers have entered into a consent decree resolving a lawsuit, EEOC v. Seapod Pawnbrokers, Inc. et al., EDNY 14-cv-4567. (Here is the EEOC press release.) In its October 2014 amended complaint, the EEOC alleges that defendants violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by subjecting female employees to…

Read More $300K Consent Decree in EEOC’s Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Seapod Pawnbrokers
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Here is the federal court complaint, captioned Cargian v. Breitling USA, Inc., 15-cv-01084 (SDNY, filed 2/17/15), in which plaintiff alleges age, gender, and sexual orientation discrimination against watch manufacturer Breitling. He asserts claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the New York State and City…

Read More Age, Gender, and Sexual Orientation Discrimination Lawsuit Against Breitling
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A recent Eastern District of New York decision, Jones v. City of New York, No. 14-CV-0826 CBA RLM, 2015 WL 502227 (E.D.N.Y. Feb. 5, 2015), illustrates the well-established principle that an employer can fire an employee for any reason as long as the reason is non-discriminatory even if based on reasons that are unbecoming or small-minded,…

Read More Jealousy of Spruned Lover, Rather than Race or National Origin Discrimination, Was Reason for Termination
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In McCaskill v. Shoprite Supermarket (NDNY 1/30/15), the Northern District of New York granted defendant’s motion for summary judgmetn dismissing plaintiff’s race discrimination claim. Stray Remarks As part of his opposition to defendant’s motion, plaintiff contended “that his termination was motivated by racial discrimination because, inter alia, he overheard a derogatory racist remark directed towards…

Read More Court Applies “Stray Remark” Doctrine to Dismiss Race Discrimination Lawsuit Against Shop Rite
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In Dunn v. URS Corp., 13-cv-6626 (SDNY Jan. 12, 2015), the Southern District of New York held that plaintiff, an African American man, sufficiently alleged race discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Plaintiff alleged that defendants failed to promote him, paid him less than what similarly situated employees received, failed…

Read More Raises Given to Others Supports Race Discrimination Claim
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In a Marchuk v. Faruqi & Faruqi (SDNY 1/28/15), a decision issued in the sexual harassment lawsuit brought by Alexandra Marchuk against Faruqi & Faruqi, Juan Monteverde, and others, Southern District of New York Judge Hellerstein addresses defendants’ motion, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50, for Judgment as a Matter of Law (JMOL). Among other…

Read More Decision on Post-Trial Motion in Marchuk v. Faruqi & Faruqi Sexual Harassment Case
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In Idlisan v. Mount Sinai Medical Center (decided January 9, 2015), the Southern District of New York dismissed plaintiff’s claim that he was not hired because of his race, national origin, disability, and conviction history. Title VII In dismissing plaintiff’s Title VII claims, the court – citing Second Circuit precedent for the principle that “feelings and…

Read More Court Reiterates That Mere “Perception” of Discrimination is Insufficient to Survive Summary Judgment
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In Dziedzic v. State University of New York at Oswego (decided Dec. 19, 2014), the Northern District of New York reiterated that, in order to establish a hostile work environment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a plaintiff must establish two elements: [1] the workplace is permeated with discriminatory intimidation, ridicule,…

Read More Court Reiterates That Actionable Hostile Work Environment Must Be Related to Protected Class/Status
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One of the ways to establish “pretext” in the employment discrimination/retaliation analysis is to point to “inconsistent employer explanations” for the employee’s termination. That is what happened in Encarnacion v. Isabella Geriatric Center, decided by the Southern District of New York on December 12, 2014. There, plaintiff, a nurse, alleged (among other things) that she…

Read More Court Denies Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment on Plaintiff’s Retaliation Claims, Citing Inconsistent and Contradictory Explanations for Termination
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