Hostile Work Environment

In Lent v. CCNH d/b/a Cortland Care Center, decided November 16, 2015, the Northern District of New York awarded plaintiff damages following defendant’s default. As set forth in the court’s June 1, 2015 decision granting plaintiff’s motion for a default judgment (which I wrote about here), In this sexual harassment case, plaintiff alleged (among other…

Read More Court Explains $1.25M Emotional Distress Damage Award in Sexual Harassment/Hostile Work Environment Case
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It has been reported that the former personal secretary to Glenn Jorgensen, the Town of Smithtown Superintendent of Highways, has settled her claims of sexual harassment, hostile work environment, and wrongful termination against the Town and Jorgensen for $75,000. In her Dec. 9, 2014 Notice of Claim (below), Ms. Smith alleged, among other things, that Jorgensen…

Read More $75,000 Sexual Harassment/Hostile Work Environment Settlement Against Town of Smithtown and Highway Superintendent Glenn Jorgensen
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In Lolonga-Gedeon v. Child & Family Servs., No. 1:08-CV-00300 EAW, 2015 WL 7280559 (W.D.N.Y. Nov. 18, 2015), the court rejected defendant’s challenge to an earlier decision denying its motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s hostile work environment claim. Defendant argued that the Supreme Court’s decision in Vance v. Ball State University, 133 S.Ct. 2434 (2013)…

Read More Fact Issues as to “Supervisor” Status Result in Denial of Summary Judgment for Defendant on Plaintiff’s Title VII Hostile Work Environment Claim
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In Bacchus v. New York City Dep’t of Educ., No. 12 CV 1663 PKC, 2015 WL 5774550 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 30, 2015), the court denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s (a black woman of Guyanese national origin) claims of employment discrimination and hostile work environment. This case provides a helpful analysis of whether alleged…

Read More Race, National Origin Discrimination Claims Survive Summary Judgment; Alleged Discriminatory Comments Were Not “Stray Remarks”
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The Northern District of New York’s recent decision of Saile v. New York Dep’t of Motor Vehicles, No. 5:13-CV-1394 ATB, 2015 WL 6962688 (N.D.N.Y. Nov. 9, 2015) reminds us that a plaintiff alleging a sex-based hostile work environment must do more than merely allege that they were made “uncomfortable” by sexual comments – here, alleged…

Read More Alleged Lewd Comments About DMV Customers, Bowling Buttocks Text, Etc. Insufficient to Establish Hostile Work Environment
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In a recent Manhattan federal lawsuit, captioned Jose Alcantara v. Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. and Kellie Marsalli, SDNY 15-cv-08770 (filed 11/6/15), plaintiff (a Muslim cancer survivor) alleges that he was subjected to a hostile work environment, retaliated against, denied a raise and promotion, and terminated based upon his religion. Plaintiff alleges, among other things, that defendant(s)…

Read More Muslim’s Religious Discrimination Lawsuit Against Bed Bath & Beyond
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A recent New York Supreme Court case, Spellman v. Gucci Am. Inc., 2015 NY Slip Op 31728(U) (Sup. Ct. NY Cty. Sept. 11, 2015), illustrates that “hostility” disconnected from the plaintiff’s protected class is insufficient to state a cause of action, even under the relatively broad NYC Human Rights Law. The court dismissed plaintiff’s hostile work environment claim…

Read More Alleged Threats of Death and Termination Insufficient to Allege a Cause of Action for a Hostile Work Environment Under the NYC Human Rights Law
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In a recent lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court (captioned Harwell v. Consolidated Edison Co. of NY, 15-cv-08511 (SDNY filed 10/28/15), plaintiff (an African American woman) asserts, among other things, that she was subjected to race discrimination, gender discrimination, and a hostile work environment by her employer, Con Ed.

Read More Race/Gender Discrimination, Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Con Edison
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File this one under “What were they thinking?!?”. When the facts of an employment discrimination case include the terms “Hitler video” and “mandatory conference”, it isn’t difficult to predict how the case is going to turn out. In Orlando v. BNP Paribas N. Am., Inc., No. 14 CIV. 4102 AJP, 2015 WL 6387531 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 22,…

Read More Hitler/Nazi “Training Video” Supports Hostile Work Environment Claims Under New York State and City Human Rights Laws
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