Hostile Work Environment

In Minckler v. UPS, 2015 WL 6510537 (N.Y. App. Div. 3d Dept. Oct. 29, 2015), an upstate appellate court affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s sexual harassment/hostile work environment and retaliation claims against her former employer UPS, but held that her claim for assault and battery could continue against a co-worker. The Facts Plaintiff, a UPS administrative…

Read More “Uncivil and Crude” Comments Did Not Amount to Sexual Harassment/Hostile Work Environment at UPS
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In Husser v. New York City Dep’t of Educ., No. 12-CV-6095 MKB JO, 2015 WL 5774741 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 30, 2015), plaintiff alleged that defendants willfully failed to pay her wages equal to those paid to men for equal work, retaliated against her, and subjected her to a hostile work environment. The court adopted the Magistrate Judge’s Report…

Read More Gender Pay Discrimination and Retaliation, But Not Hostile Work Environment, Claims Survive Summary Judgment
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In Irons v. Bedford-Stuyvesant Cmty. Legal Servs., No. 13-CV-4467 MKB, 2015 WL 5692860 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 28, 2015), the court dismissed a male plaintiff’s claims of sexual harassment/hostile work environment, gender discrimination, and retaliation. Here I’ll discuss one aspect of the case – namely, the court’s decision to grant defendants summary judgment on plaintiff’s claims of…

Read More Court Dismisses Male Employee’s Sex Discrimination Claims
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In Parker v. Workmen’s Circle Ctr. of the Bronx, Inc., No. 14CV5327-LTS, 2015 WL 5710511 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 29, 2015), the Southern District of New York held that plaintiff sufficiently alleged her gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and hostile work environment claims. The Facts The court summarized plaintiff’s allegations, as set forth in her federal complaint, as…

Read More Retaliation, Hostile Work Environment, Gender Discrimination Claims Sufficiently Alleged Against Workmen’s Circle Center of the Bronx
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In a recent lawsuit, Kaplan-DiNola v. NYC Dept. of Education, 15-cv-8139 (SDNY filed 10/16/15), elementary school teacher Rosanne Kaplan-DiNola alleges that she is a homosexual female who “has been forced to work in an environment of blatant homophobia and discrimination perpetrated by her immediate supervisors.” She alleges, for example, that defendants berated her for her…

Read More Teacher’s Sexual Orientation Discrimination Lawsuit Against NYC Dept. of Education
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The court’s decision in Varughese v. Mount Sinai Med. Ctr., No. 12 CIV. 8812 CM JCF, 2015 WL 1499618 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 27, 2015) provides an example of what circumstances will not give rise to an actionable hostile work environment claim. From the decision: In the end, [d]etermining whether workplace harassment was severe or pervasive enough to be actionable…

Read More Court Dismisses Doctor’s Race, Sex-Based Hostile Work Environment Claims Against Mt. Sinai
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In a recently-filed lawsuit, captioned Termini v. B&A Pork Store Inc., Robert Brannigan, and James Brannigan (15-cv-5716, EDNY filed 10/2/5), plaintiff alleges that while employed by B&A Pork Store in Brooklyn, she was subjected to sexual harassment/hostile work environment and retaliation for rejecting sexual advances. She alleges that the store’s owner, “RB”, fired her because…

Read More Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Brooklyn Pork Store
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A recent Southern District decision, Villar v. City of New York, No. 09-CV-7400 DAB, 2015 WL 5707125 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 29, 2015), illustrates how a plaintiff can overcome summary judgment on a gender discrimination claim by demonstrating that a defendant’s proffered legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the discriminatory act is a “pretext” for discrimination. Plaitniff, a Hispanic…

Read More Wrongful Termination Gender Discrimination Claim Against NYPD Survives Summary Judgment
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In Szwalla v. Time Warner Cable, LLC, No. 3:13-CV-713 MAD/DEP, 2015 WL 5708538 (N.D.N.Y. Sept. 29, 2015), the court explained and applied the so-called “Faragher-Ellerth” affirmative defense to a hostile work environment claim. In this case, plaintiff (an account executive for the Time Warner defendants) alleged that defendants engaged in sexual harassment, subjected her to a…

Read More Court Applies “Faragher-Ellerth” Defense to Dismiss Plaintiff’s Sexual Harassment/Hostile Work Environment Title VII Claim
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