Hostile Work Environment

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In Guerra v. Murphy, No. 15-cv-1168, 2016 WL 7480405 (N.D.N.Y. Dec. 29, 2016), the court granted defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s disparate-treatment employment discrimination claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as he failed to plausibly allege the existence of an “adverse employment action.” The court also dismissed plaintiff’s hostile work…

Read More Absence of “Adverse Employment Action” Results in Dismissal of Title VII Disparate-Treatment Employment Discrimination Claims
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In order to hold an employer liable for a hostile work environment, a plaintiff needs to establish two elements: The existence of a hostile work environment (i.e., sufficiently “hostile” conduct connected a protected characteristic); and A specific basis for imputing the hostile work environment to the employer (vicarious liability). A recent case, Ward v. Shaddock, No.…

Read More Hostile Work Environment Created by Co-Worker Not Imputable to Entity Employer
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In Johnson v. J. Walter Thompson U.S.A., LLC, No. 16-CV-1805 (JPO), 2016 WL 7217847 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 13, 2016), the court denied defendants’ FRCP 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss plaintiff’s sex-based hostile work environment and retaliation claims. Here I’ll discuss the court’s evaluation of plaintiff’s hostile work environment claim. Plaintiff alleged, among other things, that defendant Gustavo…

Read More Sex-Based Hostile Work Environment Claim Continues Against J. Walter Thompson; Plaintiff Alleged (e.g.) Rape Comments, Unwanted Touching, and “Bossy” Remarks
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We’ve seen one judge warn a lawyer not to call their adversary an “asshole” in private correspondence. Now we have a decision imposing a $4,700 fine/sanction on a lawyer for (e.g.) calling their adversary a “racist” during a deposition. In Scott-Iverson v. Indep. Health Ass’n, Inc., No. 13-CV-451V(F), 2016 WL 7320067 (W.D.N.Y. Dec. 15, 2016), the…

Read More Court Imposes $4,700 Fine on Lawyer For (e.g.) Calling Adversary a “Racist” During Employment Discrimination Deposition
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In Fisher v. Mermaid Manor Home for Adults, LLC, No. 1:14-CV-03461-WFK-JO, 2016 WL 7330554 (E.D.N.Y. Dec. 16, 2016), the court upheld a jury verdict for an African American plaintiff on her employment discrimination claims. This employment discrimination case, asserted under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the NYC Human Rights Law, “began…

Read More Court Upholds Jury Verdict in “Instagram Planet of the Apes” National Origin Discrimination Lawsuit
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In a recently-filed NY Supreme Court lawsuit captioned Salvat v. Construction Resources Corp et al., plaintiff (a female iron worker) asserts, inter alia, that a male employee (Anthony Sango) threatened to tell her fiance that she was speaking to a shop steward, unless she gave him her panties and then photographed her while she was…

Read More Female Construction Worker’s Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Includes Allegation that Male Co-Worker Took Pictures of Her in the Bathroom
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In Camarda v. City of New York et al, 15-3262-cv, 2016 WL 7234686 (2d Cir. Dec. 14, 2016) (Summary Order), the Second Circuit affirmed the summary judgment dismissal (Camarda v. City of NY, EDNY 11-cv-2629, Sept. 16, 2015 (J. Mauskoopf)) of plaintiff’s claims of sex discrimination, hostile work environment, and retaliation under 42 U.S.C. § 1983;…

Read More 2nd Circuit Explains Decision to Affirm Dismissal of Police Officer’s Sexual Harassment, Gender Discrimination, Hostile Work Environment, and Retaliation Claims
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In Bell v. McRoberts Protective Agency, Inc., No. 15-CV-0963 (JPO), 2016 WL 7192083 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 12, 2016), the court dismissed plaintiff’s federal, state, and city claims of religious, race, and sex discrimination under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). (This decision, which follows a prior dismissal of plaintiff’s claims, focuses on plaintiff’s amended complaint.) Initially,…

Read More Religious, Race, Sex Discrimination Claims Dismissed on Non-Exhaustion and Substantive Grounds
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In Casseus v. N.Y. Coll. of Health Professions, 15-cv-1914, 2016 WL 7029157 (E.D.N.Y. Nov. 10, 2016), report and recommendation adopted, 2016 WL 7017364 (E.D.N.Y. Dec. 1, 2016), the court dismissed plaintiff’s employment discrimination claims. Among other things, it held that plaintiff failed to exhaust her administrative remedies with respect to her gender discrimination and hostile…

Read More Unasserted Gender Discrimination & Hostile Work Environment Claims Dismissed as Not Administratively Exhausted
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In Willis v. Cty. of Onondaga, No. 14-cv-1306, 2016 WL 7116126 (N.D.N.Y. Dec. 6, 2016), the court dismissed plaintiff’s sexual harassment, racial harassment, retaliation, and other claims asserted under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Here I’ll discuss the court’s evaluation of plaintiff’s Title VII sexual harassment claim. Plaintiff, an African-American heterosexual…

Read More Court Dismisses Sheriff’s Sexual Harassment and Other Claims; Court Assumed Conduct Was “Because of Sex” and Sufficiently “Severe” and “Pervasive” But Was Not Imputable to Defendant
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