February 2015

In Clark v. Allen & Overy, LLP, 2015 NY Slip Op 01398, 125 AD3d 497 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Feb. 17, 2015), the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed the lower court’s order granting defendant law firm’s motion to compel plaintiff to submit to a mental examination. (I wrote about a development in this case here.) The…

Read More Discrimination Plaintiff Seeking Emotional Distress Damages Must Submit to Mental Examination, First Dept. Holds
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In Margerum v. City of Buffalo, 2015 NY Slip Op 01378 [24 NY3d 721] (N.Y. Ct. App. Feb. 17, 2015), the New York Court of Appeals held that a notice of claim need not be filed for a Human Rights Law claim against a municipality. In this case, plaintiffs – 12 white firefighters – alleged that…

Read More Discrimination Claims Under the Human Rights Law Are Not Subject to New York’s Notice of Claim Requirement, Court of Appeals Holds
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In Dillon v. Ned Management, Inc. et al., 13-cv-2622 (EDNY 2/2/15), the Eastern District of New York denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s hostile work environment sexual harassment, aiding and abetting, and retaliation claims. The decision offers a good review of the current state of the law under Title VII of the Civil Rights…

Read More Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Claims Continue Against Ned Management
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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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For employment litigators in New York City, the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) is a formidable weapon against discrimination and harassment in the workplace. The NYCHRL’s protections are broad, particularly when compared with those offered by federal and state law. In Velazco v. Columbus Citizens Foundation et al (2nd Cir. Feb. 13, 2015),…

Read More Second Circuit Vacates Dismissal of NYC Human Rights Law Age Discrimination Claim
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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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This week, a jury reached a verdict in plaintiff Alexandra Marchuk’s sexual harassment/hostile work environment lawsuit against law firm Faruqi & Faruqi LLP, partner Juan Monteverde, and others. According to the Judgment in the case filed on 2/9/15, the jury awarded the following to plaintiff: $90,000 in compensatory damages as against defendants Juan Monteverde and…

Read More $140,000 Jury Verdict in Marchuk v. Faruqi & Faruqi Sexual Harassment Case
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In Pion v. New York City Hous. Auth. (App. Div. 1st Dept. Feb. 10, 2015), the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed the denial of defendant’s motion for summary judgment dismissing plaintiff’s complaint. In this personal injury premises liability lawsuit, plaintiff alleged that he was injured when he tripped and fell down a staircase in defendant’s building.…

Read More “Trap” Stairway Trip-Fall Case Continues
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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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