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In a somewhat unusual departure from my typical blog posts, this one is about a cease-and-desist letter addressed to me personally. The letter (here, with selected exhibits and below), from Florida lawyer Casey Cummings of Florida law firm Kenner & Cummings PLLC, asserts that a blog post I published on June 3, 2014 is “defamatory”, asks me “kindly” to take…

Read More My Response to a Cease-and-Desist Letter
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Here is the complaint, captioned Andre v. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center et al, 15-cv-04557 (SDNY June 11, 2015), in which the female plaintiff alleges, among other things, that her female supervisor sexually harassed her and fired her in retaliation for engaging in protected activity.  

Read More Same-Sex Sexual Harassment, Pregnancy Discrimination, and Retaliation Lawsuit Against Memorial Sloan Kettering
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In Doerr v. Goldsmith, decided by the New York Court of Appeals on June 9, 2015, the New York Court of Appeals (for non-New York readers, New York’s highest court) reversed the decision of the First Department in Doerr v. Goldsmith, 110 AD3d 453, which permitted a claim arising from a dog-related injury to continue.…

Read More NY Court of Appeals Adheres to “Vicious Propensity” Rule for Dog-Related Injuries
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The Southern District of New York recently denied defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint alleging sexual harassment, hostile work environment, and retaliation against Urban Outfitters. In Swiderski v. Urban Outfitters, 14-cv-6307, 2015 WL 3513088 (SDNY June 4, 2015), the court held that the plaintiff pleaded an actionable hostile work environment claim based on the conduct…

Read More Sexual Harassment/Hostile Work Environment Lawsuit (Based in Part on Customer Conduct) Against Urban Outfitters Continues
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In the disturbing case of Lent v. CCNH, Inc. d/b/a Cortland Care Center, 2015 WL 3463433 (NDNY June 1, 2015), the court held that plaintiff sufficiently alleged (hostile work environment) sexual harassment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the New York State Human Rights Law. Plaintiff alleged that her co-worker “cornered…

Read More Allegations of Rape by Co-Worker Sufficiently Allege Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment
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A recent decision, DeLaurencio v. Brooklyn Children’s Center, Superintendent (EDNY May 29, 2015), reiterates that Title VII is not a “general civility code” and that “[w]ork environments that are hostile for non-discriminatory reasons do not fall within the ambit of Title VII.” In this case, the court held that none of the allegations in plaintiff’s…

Read More Employment Discrimination / Hostile Work Environment Allegations Amounting to Rude Conduct Unmotivated by Discriminatory Animus Fail to State a Claim
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Here is the employment discrimination complaint, captioned Miller v. Zara USA, Dilip Patel, and Moises Costas Rodriguez, filed in Supreme Court, NY County (Index No. 155512-2015), on June 3, 2015. In it, Zara’s former in-house counsel, Ian Jack Miller, asserts various claims, including religion-based discrimination, national origin discrimination, sexual orientation discrimination, and retaliation.

Read More Employment Discrimination Lawsuit Against Zara
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Below is the complaint, captioned Kology v. MySpace NYC et al., 15-cv-3061 and filed May 27, 2015 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, alleging sexual harassment, hostile work environment, and retaliation against real estate company MySpace NYC. Plaintiff alleges, among other things, that defendants fired her because she refused the company’s owner’s…

Read More Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against MySpace NYC
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