Assertion of Whistleblower Claims Does Not Result in Waiver of Disability Discrimination Claims

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In Barker v. Peconic Landing at Southhold, Inc., 2012 WL 3096036 (E.D.N.Y. July 30, 2012), plaintiff alleged disability discrimination and a violation of New York’s whistleblower statute, Labor Law Section 740. Plaintiff’s latter claim was that he was fired in retaliation for reporting “a growing drug problem among fellow nurses and nurse’s assistants”, thefts, and…

Read More Assertion of Whistleblower Claims Does Not Result in Waiver of Disability Discrimination Claims
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Below are three separate complaints filed yesterday by, respectively, plaintiffs Julie Lawler, Kelly Hanlin, and Damien Crisp against the City of New York and several named and “John Doe” NYPD employees, for damages and injunctive relief under, inter alia, 42 U.S.C. § 1983.  The crux of plaintiffs’ claims is that they were injured as a…

Read More OWS Pepper Spray Lawsuits
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On July 24th, the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s claim that a restaurant violated Title III of the Americans With Disabilities Act by restricting her access, and that of her service dog, to the restaurant  and by verbally harassing her. The case, Krist v. Kolombos Restaurant, Inc., No. 11-1263-cv, should give paws –…

Read More Second Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Service Dog Discrimination Claims
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On June 30, the NYC Criminal Court rejected Twitter’s attempt to quash a subpoena seeking “any and all user information, including email addresses, as well as any and all tweets posted for the period of September 15, 2011 to December 31, 2011” from a Twitter account maintained by defendant Malcolm Harris (whose tweets, apparently, bolstered…

Read More Court: Tweets Are “Gifted To The World”; Must Be Produced In OWS Case
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In MacMillan v. Millenium Broadway Hotel (SDNY June 11, 2012), the Southern District of New York found that the plaintiff successfully proved that he was subject to a racially hostile work environment.  While at work plaintiff encountered a voodoo doll with a “black face and pink lips” hanging from a bulletin board by a rope around…

Read More “Voodoo Doll Lynching” Race Discrimination Verdict Upheld
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In a June 7, 2012 decision in Arsenault v. New York State, the Appellate Division, Third Department dismissed plaintiffs’ claims (and reversed an earlier decision, which I wrote about here) arising from plaintiff’s decedent being struck and killed by falling rocks while hiking in a state park.  The Court of Claims had denied summary judgment…

Read More State Not Liable for Hiker Death
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In an idiotic article entitled “Justice for Justin” (May 31, 2012), Bill O’Reilly claims that “[w]e absolutely need tort reform in this country”.  The focus of his anti-lawsuit tirade is the possibility of a lawsuit by a photographer who claims he was assaulted by Justin Bieber. O’Reilly writes: [T]he odds are that this is yet another…

Read More Celebrities and Tort Law
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Today an Appellate Division, Third Department panel held, in Yonaty v. Mincolla, that false accusations that one is gay, lesbian, or bisexual no longer qualify as defamation “per se”.  Defamation “per se” does not require proof of economic or pecuniary harm because statements falling into that category “are commonly recognized as injurious by their nature,…

Read More False Accusations of Homosexuality Held Not Defamatory Per Se
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