Recent Articles from Lindy Korn
Workplace Issues: Is a ‘fit model’ an employee under FLSA?
This case reviewed whether someone is an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which requires that an employer pay their employees minimum wage and overtime when appropriate. In this case the Court of Appeals finds that the jury could find that the plaintiff was an employee. The case is Agerbrink v. Model Service, LLC […]
Workplace Issues: Second Circuit concludes Trump blocking Twitter dissenters violates First Amendment
President Donald J. Trump appeals from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, concluding that he engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination by using Twitters “blocking” function to limit certain user’s access to his social media account which is otherwise open to the public at large, because he […]
Workplace Issues: Lawsuit accuses faculty members of ‘egregious sexual misconduct’
Two ex-John Jay College of Criminal Justice students have filed a New York Federal suit accusing four faculty members of egregious sexual misconduct and the school of conducting only a “sham” investigation into their complaints. (1:19-cv-05428, SDNY). The students said the environment they experienced at the school amounted to a “cesspool of sexism, misogyny, sexual […]
Workplace Issues: Second Circuit reverses on definition of retaliation
The Second Circuit has held that the district court’s dismissal of Plaintiff’s retaliation claim on summary judgment should be reversed since the district court employed an incorrect definition of materially adverse action. The circuit court refers to the SCOTUS decision in Burlington Northern v White, issued in 2006, stating that the definition of retaliation is […]
Workplace Issues: Second Circuit reverses summary judgment and allows plaintiff a jury trial on claim of national origin
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has reinstated an employment discrimination case, concluding that the jury may find the plaintiff was terminated from his position because of his national origin, which is Egyptian. The key evidence in this case is that the plaintiff claimed to overhear the decision maker tell someone that she “knew how […]
Workplace Issues: #METOO — avoidance in the workplace isolates women
Some male executives are reacting to the spotlight placed on sexual misconduct in the workplace by trying to avoid interacting with female co-workers, both peers and subordinates. Last year a survey conducted by Working Mother Research Institute and the ABA Journal found that 56 percent of men believed that a heightened perception of improper behavior […]
Workplace Issues: NYC discrimination guidance focuses on hairstyles & race
New York City’s Commission on Human Rights is putting employers on notice that banning or restricting hairstyles that are associated with black people is a form of racial discrimination. The Commission protects New Yorkers’ rights to wear their natural hair or hairstyles closely linked to their racial, ethnic or cultural identities, which for black people […]
Workplace Issues: Employers can get creative in discrimination
In Kopchik v. Town of East Fishkill, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 36443 (No. 18-1182-CV, decided 12/28/18), the Court of Appeals recognizes that employers can get pretty creative when it comes to discriminating against people who file discrimination charges with the EEOC, and reinstates an age discrimination lawsuit against a Duchess County municipality. The Plaintiff claims […]
Workplace Issues: 2nd Circuit holds that abuse of a restricted database by a sergeant is not retaliation
The Court of Appeals has held that a corrections officer who exposed a sergeant’s abuse of a restricted police database to spy on his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend can be retaliated against for his speech act because the law was not clearly established that this kind of whistleblowing is protected under the First Amendment (Gorman v. […]
Workplace Issues: Federal judiciary tackles workplace harassment
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has created the new position of director of workplace relations to confront workplace harassment issues in the appellate, trial and bankruptcy courts within the Circuit’s jurisdiction. This was in the wake of Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski’s sudden resignation after a report unearthed allegations of sexual harassment […]
Workplace Issues: Under-paid, under-promoted and subjected to sexual harassment: EEOC charge
Could this still be happening? Sexual harassment rarely exists by itself; rather, it is an intersectional claim of discrimination, meaning that pay equity claims and other types of unlawful discrimination usually are part of a larger scope of actionable events. This charge is no exception. Ernst & Young is being charged in an EEOC complaint […]
Workplace Issues: Teenage workers have heightened need for protection
Teenagers who begin their first jobs are eager to please their supervisors and are thrilled to receive a paycheck! Often, they do not read what they sign — by way of a handbook. Recently the EEOC has sued Del Taco, LLC in California Federal Court, claiming that the fast-food chain discriminated against a putative class […]
Case Digests
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Review of another judge’s actions: Opinion 22-153
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Charitable contributions: Opinion 22-150
- Second Circuit – Class action settlement: Moses v. The New York Times Company
- Fourth Department – Breach of contract: Hausrath Landscape Maintenance Inc. v. Caravan Facilities Management LLC
- Second Circuit – New York Child Victim’s Act: Kane v. Mount Pleasant CSD; Coe v. Eastport Union Free School
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Appointing law clerk: Opinion 22-149
- Fourth Department – Bill of particulars: Harris v. Rome Memorial Hospital, et al.
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Accusations against co-judge: Opinion 22-148
- Fourth Department – Medicaid: Washington Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Home v. NYS Dept. of Health
- Fourth Department – Criminal possession of a firearm: People v. Wilson
- Fourth Department – Promoting prostitution: People v. Watts
- Second Circuit – Class certification: Arkansas Teachers Retirement System V. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Law News
- Fourth Department affirms $400K judgment in contract dispute
- Could legislation limiting non-compete agreements kick off a new era of workplace disputes?
- Fourth Department affirms decision in NY property dispute
- Greenlight Networks selects Buffalo-based attorney as general counsel
- Barclay Damon hires attorney Matt Smith
- Rochester man sues Geneseo police, alleging false arrest, assault
- The Daily Record’s Power List for Intellectual Property 2023
- NY ethics panel says judges can join NRA