Court: SDNY

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In Hsueh v. N.Y. State Dep’t of Fin. Servs., No. 15 CIV. 3401 (PAC), 2017 WL 1194706 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 31, 2017), the court imposed spoliation sanctions on a sexual harassment plaintiff arising from her deletion of a digital recording of a conversation with an HR representative. Initially, the court held that, while the recording constitutes “electronically…

Read More Court Imposes Sanctions on Sexual Harassment Plaintiff Who Deleted Audio Recording
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In Cowan v. City of Mount Vernon, No. 14-CV-8871 (KMK), 2017 WL 1169667 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 28, 2017), the court dismissed plaintiff’s sexual harassment claim as insufficiently pled. This decision illustrates the degree of specificity courts look for when evaluating these types of claims on a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss. From…

Read More Sexual Harassment Claim Dismissed; Court Cites Lack of Complaint’s Specificity
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In a recent Manhattan federal court lawsuit, Ahmed v. American Museum of Natural History (SDNY 17-2095 filed March 23, 2017), the (male) plaintiff asserts that he was subjected to retaliation for opposing sexual harassment of a female colleague by his boss, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the…

Read More Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against the American Museum of Natural History
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In Rogers v. Fashion Inst. of Tech. et al, No. 14-CV-6420 (AJN), 2017 WL 1078572 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 21, 2017), the court granted in part and denied in part defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s (an African American part-time adjunct professor in FIT’s production management department) claims of race discrimination. (This decision follows a prior dismissal and…

Read More FIT Professor’s Race Discrimination Claims Proceed in Part
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In Bien-Aime v. Equity Residential, No. 15-CV-1485 (VEC), 2017 WL 696695 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 22, 2017), the court granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment as to plaintiff’s disability discrimination claims (under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL), and the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL), but denied…

Read More Manhattan Building Porter’s ADA Retaliation Claim Survives Summary Judgment; Disability Discrimination Claims Dismissed
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In Bright-Asante v. Saks & Co., Inc., No. 15 CIV. 5876 (ER), 2017 WL 977587 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 9, 2017) – an employment discrimination case arising from the suspension of an African American sales associate upon suspicion of theft – the court held, inter alia, that: (1) plaintiff’s statutory discrimination claims were not subject to mandatory…

Read More Arbitration of Statutory Discrimination Claims Not Compelled; Constructive Discharge Claim Stated Against Saks; Retaliation and Race Discrimination Claims Dismissed
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In Downey v. Adloox Inc., No. 16-CV-1689 (JMF), 2017 WL 816141 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 28, 2017) (J. Furman), the court held that plaintiff – who was directly employed by a wholly-owned domestic subsidiary of a foreign company – sufficiently stated claims of age discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the New York State and…

Read More Age Discrimination Sufficiently Alleged Against Ad Company Adloox, Inc.
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In Rasmy v. Marriott Int’l, Inc., No. 16-CV-04865 (AJN), 2017 WL 773604 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 24, 2017), the court discussed and applied the doctrines of election of remedies, administrative exhaustion, and mandatory arbitration in the context of defendant’s motion to dismiss the hostile work environment (religion, national origin) and retaliation claims asserted by plaintiff. Plaintiff, an Egyptian…

Read More State/City Human Rights Law Religion and National Origin Hostile Work Environment Claims Dismissed Against Marriott; Retaliation and Title VII Hostile Work Environment Claims Continue
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In Paxton v. Fluor Enterprises, Inc., No. 15-cv-3737, 2017 WL 875856 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 3, 2017) (J. Cote), the court granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s Americans with Disabilities Act and New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL) claims, as her medical condition – birth with a cleft lip and palate – was not…

Read More Disability (Cleft Lip and Palate) Discrimination Claims Dismissed; Retaliation Claims Survive Summary Judgment
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The Southern District of New York’s recent decision in McCray v. Project Renewal, Inc., 15-cv-8494, 2017 WL 715010 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 22, 2017) (Judge Caproni) serves as another reminder of the procedural hurdles that must be overcome in order to assert an employment discrimination claim in federal court. Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, sued his former employer, Defendant Project Renewal,…

Read More Court Dismisses ADA Disability Discrimination Claim as Unexhausted, Title VII Race Discrimination Claim as Insufficiently Pled
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