In New York State Div. of Human Rights v. Miranda, No. 520714, 2016 WL 732195 (N.Y. App. Div. 3d Dept. Feb. 25, 2016), the court upheld the New York State Division of Human Rights’ award of $25,000 to each of two plaintiffs who alleged that they suffered sexual harassment while working as waitresses at Nonnopapa Enterprises…
Read More Court Upholds $25,000 Sexual Harassment Damage AwardsIn Lent v. CCNH d/b/a Cortland Care Center, decided November 16, 2015, the Northern District of New York awarded plaintiff damages following defendant’s default. As set forth in the court’s June 1, 2015 decision granting plaintiff’s motion for a default judgment (which I wrote about here), In this sexual harassment case, plaintiff alleged (among other…
Read More Court Explains $1.25M Emotional Distress Damage Award in Sexual Harassment/Hostile Work Environment CaseIn Najnin v. Dollar Mountain, Inc., No. 14CV5758, 2015 WL 6125436 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 25, 2015), the court provides some insight into how damages are determined when a defendant defaults in an unpaid wages/employment discrimination (sexual harassment) case. The court held, among other things, that plaintiff was not entitled to any back pay damages, and to…
Read More Court Explains Damages in Sexual Harassment/Unpaid Overtime Case Upon Defendant’s DefaultIn Rensselaer Cnty. Sheriff’s Dep’t v. New York State Div. of Human Rights, No. 520239, 2015 WL 4757612 (N.Y. App. Div. 3d Dept. Aug. 13, 2015), the court upheld the determination of the New York State Division of Human Rights that the petitioner engaged in unlawful gender discrimination. The court discussed some of the evidence presented…
Read More Court Upholds Sexual Harassment/Hostile Work Environment Finding in Corrections Employee’s Favor by State Division of Human RightsIn Roberts v. United Parcel Serv., Inc., No. 13-CV-6161, 2015 WL 4509994 (E.D.N.Y. July 27, 2015), the Eastern District of New York denied defendant United Parcel Service’s post-trial motions and upheld the jury’s $100,000 verdict for plaintiff on her sexual orientation discrimination/hostile work environment and retaliation claims under the NYC Human Rights Law. From Judge…
Read More Court Upholds Jury Verdict (Liability and $100k Damages) in Sexual Orientation Discrimination Case Against UPSIn Roberts v. UPS, 13-cv-6161 (Eastern District of New York), a jury recently awarded a discrimination plaintiff $50,000 in compensatory damages and $50,000 in punitive damages under the New York City Human Rights Law ($25k compensatory for discrimination, $25k punitive for discrimination, $25k compensatory for retaliation, $25k punitive for retaliation). Federal subject matter jurisdiction was…
Read More $100,000 Jury Verdict for Victim of Sexual Orientation Discrimination and HarassmentThe Appellate Division, First Department, in Matter of Law Offs. of Oliver Zhou, PLLC v. New York State Div. of Human Rights, 2015 NY Slip Op 04569 (App. Div. 1st Dept. May 28, 2015) recently upheld the determination of the State Division of Human Rights that the petitioners violated the State Human Rights Law. In…
Read More Termination After Showing Employer Sexual Harassment Complaint Supports State Division AwardIn 2010, plaintiff Geralyn Ganci alleged, in a federal court complaint against U.S. Limousine Service Ltd. and Raymond Townsend, that she was subjected to hostile work environment and quid pro quo sexual harassment (including in person and by phone calls/text messages) by her boss Raymond Townsend and fired for rejecting his advances. Among the “vile and…
Read More $700,000+ Award in Limousine Company Sexual Harassment CaseAn employer recently learned the hard way that firing an employee – because she rejected his sexual advances – by text message is a bad idea. In Comm’n on Human Rights ex rel. Martinez v. Joseph “J.P.” Musso Home Improvement & Joseph Musso, OATH Index No. 2167/14 (Feb. 27, 2015), the New York City Office of Administrative…
Read More OMG LOL: Text Message Firing of Employee Who Opposed Sexual Harassment May Cost Employer $37KThe law relating to the use of social media in litigation continues to evolve. A recent decision issued by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Caputi v. Topper Realty Corp. (decided Feb. 25, 2015), provides additional insight into how judges deal with this increasingly important issue. In Caputi, a wage-and-hour case, defendants…
Read More Court Allows Partial Access to Plaintiff’s Facebook Account