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In Penn v. The New York Methodist Hospital, No. 11-CV-9137 (NSR), 2016 WL 270456 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 20, 2016), the court dismissed plaintiff’s Title VII religion-based discrimination claim under the so-called”ministerial exception,” which operates at the intersection of anti-discrimination and First Amendment law. The ministerial exception, which is based on the Religion Clauses of the First…

Read More Court Dismisses Methodist Chaplain’s Religious Discrimination Claim Against Hospital Under the “Ministerial Exception”
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In Palmer v New York City Dept. of Health & Hygiene, 2016 NY Slip Op 30037(U) (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Cty. Jan. 5, 2016), the court granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment dismissing plaintiff’s complaint alleging disability discrimination. The law: A prima facie case of discrimination requires a showing by plaintiff that: [1] she is a…

Read More Absenteeism, Not Disability, Was Reason for Termination, Court Holds
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In a lawsuit captioned Nolan-Griffin v. NYSARC, SDNY 16-cv-370 (filed Jan. 17, 2016), plaintiff alleges, among other things, that her “coworkers regularly made ‘jokes’ wherein the punch line centered on [her] Griffin’s Italian ancestry and her ‘whiteness.’” She also asserts a claim under the “healthcare whistleblowing” statute, NY Labor Law section 741.

Read More Lawsuit Alleges Discrimination Based on Italian Ethnicity, Violation of Healthcare Whistleblower Law
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In Domaszowec v. Residential Mgmt. Grp. LLC, No. 16697, 2016 WL 208299 (N.Y. App. Div. Jan. 19, 2016), the First Department held that the plaintiff was entitled to summary judgment on her Labor Law § 240(1) claim. Labor Law § 240(1), the so-called “Scaffold Law”, provides in pertinent part: All contractors and owners and their…

Read More Window Cleaner Died While “Cleaning” Within Meaning of NY’s “Scaffold Law”, Labor Law § 240(1), Court Holds
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In Foley v. Santucci, 2016 NY Slip Op 00330 (App. Div. 2nd Dept. Jan. 20, 2016), a car accident case, the court reversed the denial of plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment. It explained: [Non-party witness affidavits] demonstrated that the sole proximate cause of the subject accident was the defendant driver’s violation of Vehicle and Traffic Law §…

Read More Left Turn Without Yielding Right of Way Results in Summary Judgment for Plaintiff in Car Accident Case
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In a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court on January 19, 2016, Mikolaenko v. NYU School of Medicine et al (16-cv-00413), plaintiff – a doctor – asserts (among other things) that her supervisor threatened to give her poor reviews and terminate her unless she had sex with him, propositioned plaintiff for sex, and made inappropriate…

Read More Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against NYU School of Medicine and Others
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Governor Cuomo recently signed into law A6265/S5188, which amends N.Y. C.P.L.R. 3212 – the statute that governs summary judgment – with respect to the use of expert affidavits. The statute now reads, with new text bolded: (b) Supporting proof; grounds; relief to either party. A motion for summary judgment shall be supported by affidavit, by a…

Read More CPLR Amended to Expand Use of Expert Affidavits on Summary Judgment Motions
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In Dotel v. Walmart Stores, Inc., No. 15-76-CV, 2016 WL 158466, at *1 (2d Cir. Jan. 14, 2016) (Summary Order), the Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s complaint against Walmart Stores alleging sex discrimination, hostile work environment, retaliation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. As to her hostile work environment claim, the court…

Read More Second Circuit Invokes the “Equal Opportunity Jerk” Principle in Affirming Dismissal of Plaintiff’s Sex-Based Hostile Work Environment Claim
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The tragic story of the death of 15-year-old Natalia Jimenez is making the rounds. The New York Times reports, for example, that Ms. Jimenez died on Friday (1/15/16) afternoon after she tried to jump from one rooftop to another in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. The Times article continues: A neighbor chastised [Natalia and her two friends],…

Read More Failed Manhattan Building Jump Attempt Results in Death of NYC Teen Natalie Jimenez
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