In Smyth v. City of New York, No. 157294/2017, 2021 WL 1667153 (N.Y. Sup Ct, New York County Apr. 28, 2021) – an employment discrimination case – the court granted defendants’ motion for a protective order, and precluded plaintiff from conducting a deposition of its Acting General Counsel Sanford Cohen, on the ground that such…
Read More Discrimination Plaintiff Not Entitled to Depose City CounselIn Crawford v. ExlService.com, LLC et al, 16-cv-9137, 2019 WL 6284228 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 25, 2019), the court held that the former in-house counsel for defendant “is not categorically precluded from testifying on grounds of attorney-client privilege”, reasoning that “not all conversations between an attorney and a client are privileged.” The court noted that “[a]t trial,…
Read More Former In-House Counsel May Testify in Hostile Work Environment CaseIn Barbini v. First Niagara Bank, N.A., 16-cv-7887, 2019 WL 1922041 (S.D.N.Y. April 29, 2019), the court held, inter alia, that defendant waived the attorney-client privilege in connection with asserting the Faragher/Ellerth defense to plaintiffs’ sexual harassment claims. Under that defendant may escape liability if it can show two things, namely, (1) the employer exercised reasonable care…
Read More Invocation of Faragher/Ellerth Defense in Sexual Harassment Case Waives Attorney-Client Privilege, Court FindsIn Clark v. Allen & Overy LLP, 2019 NY Slip Op 30146(U) ,Index No. 453138/2017 (Sup. Ct. NY Cty. Jan. 16, 2019) – an employment discrimination case including allegations of retaliatory discharge and sexual harassment (among many others) – the court dismissed, inter alia, dismissed plaintiff’s “breach of attorney client privilege” claim. Plaintiff claimed that “while working with…
Read More Court: No Cause of Action for “Breach of Attorney Client Privilege”