New York Employment Attorney Blog

On May 19, 2010, after nearly a six week trial, a New York jury awarded a record $250 million in punitive damages, the largest of its kind in a sexual discrimination case, to a class of female sales employees in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Last week, the parties reached a settlement agreement of the plaintiffs' sexual discrimination claims in the sum of $152 million.

Continue reading "Novartis Reaches $152 Million Dollar Settlement in Gender Bias Law Suit Filed in New York Federal Court" »

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Posted In: Sexual Discrimination

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The plaintiff, Diane Gorzynski, brought forth claims alleging hostile work enviornment, age and sex discrimination, as well as retaliation for complaints of race and age discrimination, against JetBlue, her employer. Gorzynski v. JetBlue Airways, Corp. (February 19, 2010).

Continue reading "New York Federal Appellate Court Rules that Employee Claiming Sexual Harassment May not be Required to Complain to Multiple Managers about Harassment" »

Posted by Gangemi Law Firm, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Age Discrimination , Racial Discrimination , Retaliation , Sexual Discrimination , Sexual Harassment

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On January 6, 2010, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") released data concerning charges of discrimination filed with the agency in FY2009. The EEOC resolved a record number of charges alleging harassment and violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. FY2009 saw the second highest number of charge filings nationwide, 93,277 --just about 2,000 filings less than the record high set for FY2008.

Continue reading "EEOC Releases 2009 Charge Statistics" »

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Posted In: Age Discrimination , Disability Discrimination , Employment Discrimination , National Origin Discrimination , Racial Discrimination , Retaliation , Sexual Discrimination , Sexual Harassment

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A sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") against Duane Reade Inc., was recently settled for $240,000 and other relief. The lawsuit had alleged that Duane Reade, which operates over 200 drugstores in New York, had unlawfully created and failed to correct a sexually hostile work environment at one of its stores located in Bronx, New York.

Continue reading "New York Drugstore Chain Settles Sexual Harrassment and Retaliation Lawsuit" »

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Posted In: Employment Discrimination , Retaliation , Sexual Discrimination , Sexual Harassment

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Earlier this week, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in AT&T Corp. v. Hulteen, holding that an employer did not violate the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) through a seniority system for pension and other employee benefits that credited an employee with service while out on disability leave, but only provided partial credits to employees who had taken pregnancy leave.

Continue reading "Supreme Court Finds No Pregnancy or Sex Discrimination Based upon Employer's Prior Pension Credit Policy" »

Posted by Gangemi Law Firm, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Pregnancy Discrimination , Sexual Discrimination

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Last week, a lawsuit was filed in New York State Supreme Court alleging sexual harassment against Southern Hospitality, a New York City restaurant, and its owners, one of whom is Justin Timberlake. The lawsuit was brought by Alison McDaniel, a former restaurant manager, who accuses two of Timberlake's owners of discriminatory conduct.

Continue reading "Celebrity Owned New York Restaurant Sued for Sexual Harassment" »

Posted by Gangemi Law Firm, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Employment Discrimination , Sexual Discrimination , Sexual Harassment

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President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act on January 29, 2009. It was the first bill signed into law by the new President. As discussed in earlier blogs, the new law amends Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 "to clarify that a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice that is unlawful under such Acts occurs each time compensation is paid pursuant to the discriminatory compensation decision or other practice, and for other purposes.”

Continue reading "President Signs Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009" »

Posted by Gangemi Law Firm, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Compensation, Wages and Overtime , Employment Discrimination , Sexual Discrimination

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On January 22, 2009, the Senate passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act by a vote of 61-36. In our January 9, 2009 blog posting, we reported that the Senate had passed the identical bill.

Continue reading "Senate Passes Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act" »

Posted by Gangemi Law Firm, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Compensation, Wages and Overtime , Employment Discrimination , Sexual Discrimination

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The House of Representatives has just passed legislation making it less difficult for employees to sue for wage discrimination. The Ledbetter Bill (H.R. 11) passed by a vote of 247-171 and specifically overturns a Supreme Court case, Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Co., Inc., which held that the statute of limitations for filing a wage discrimination case does not begin to run each time a paycheck is issued. The Ledbetter Bill changes this by permitting the statute of limitations to begin anew with each discriminatory paycheck.

Continue reading "Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and Paycheck Fairness Act Pass in House" »

Posted by Gangemi Law Firm, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Employment Discrimination , Sexual Discrimination

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Last fall, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), filed a pregnancy discrimination claim against Bloomberg LP based upon complaints received from three employees. Since that time, the number of women charging Bloomberg LP with pregnancy discrimination has increased to 72. According to New York Magazine, that number constitutes about one in seven of the employees who became pregnant in the last six years. Although Bloomberg LP referred to the initial filing as a "publicity stunt," the increase in the number of employees alleging sexual discrimination renders that characterization extremely difficult to sustain.

Posted by Gangemi Law Firm, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Employment Discrimination , Pregnancy Discrimination , Sexual Discrimination

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The House of Representatives, reacting to congressional findings, has passed, 247- 178, the Paycheck Fairness Act– which aims to amend the Fair Labor and Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to provide more effective remedies to victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex. Reacting to findings that pay disparities between sexes have large negative effects on the economy and labor resources, the Paycheck Fairness Act will, if enacted, work toward removing the artificial barriers to the elimination of discrimination in the payment of wages.

Continue reading "Paycheck Fairness Act Passes in House" »

Posted by Gangemi Law Firm, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Compensation, Wages and Overtime , Sexual Discrimination

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Mauricia Grant, a former employee of NASCAR, filed suit alleging 23 specific instances of sexual harassment, as well as 34 instances of racial and sexual discrimination.

According to Grant, she complained to her supervisors of the discriminatory treatment on multiple occasions, but her complaints were ignored. She alleges in her complaint that her supervisor even participated in the discriminatory conduct. At a press conference, Brian France, NASCAR's CEO, faulted Grant for allegedly not following internal harassment complaint procedures.

The civil action seeks $225 million in damages.

Posted by Gangemi Law Firm, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Employment Discrimination , Sexual Discrimination , Sexual Harassment

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