In Garcia v. NYC Health & Hospitals Corp., No. 157098/2020, 2021 WL 2688488 (N.Y. Sup Ct, New York County June 28, 2021), the court, inter alia, held that plaintiff sufficiently alleged claims for discrimination, hostile work environment, and retaliation under the New York City Human Rights Law.
Plaintiff alleged that “his coworkers touched him inappropriately, commented on his appearance inappropriately, and called him by discriminatory nicknames, among other actions” and that “although defendant relocated plaintiff’s workstation on various occasions, plaintiff’s new offices only exacerbated his mental health conditions[.]”
As to plaintiff’s retaliation claim, specifically, the court explained:
Plaintiff has made out a cause of action for “retaliation.” After plaintiff complained, defendant relocated plaintiff to workstation(s) that exacerbated his mental and physical health conditions, inflicting “materially adverse” repercussions on plaintiff, as the court understood such terminology, in Forrest v Jewish Guild for the Blind. 3 NY3d 295, 306 (2004) (“To be materially adverse, a change in working conditions must be ‘more disruptive than a mere inconvenience or an alteration of job responsibilities. A materially adverse change might be indicated by … other indices … unique to a particular situation.”) (Internal quotation marks omitted.)