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PLAINTIFF STATED A HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT CAUSE OF ACTION WITH THE ALLEGATION (AMONG OTHERS) THAT HIS ACCENT WAS MOCKED, BUT PLAINTIFF DID NOT DEMONSTATE HIS DEMOTION WAS RELATED TO SUCH ANIMUS; THERFORE THE DISCRIMINATION CAUSE OF ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court, determined plaintiff’s employment discrimination claims under the NYS and NYC Human Rights Law stemming from his demotions should have been dismissed:

The discrimination claims should not have been allowed to proceed. Defendants proffered evidence supporting several legitimate reasons for demoting him from his provisional managerial position, including (1) an agency-wide restructuring, (2) plaintiff’s lack of accounting and management skills, and (3) evidence that he was a poor manager whose routinely hostile demeanor demoralized his subordinates, as evidenced by complaints made against him by several of those subordinates …  In the face of this evidence, plaintiff failed to come forward with any evidence raising an issue of fact as to whether these reasons were mere pretext for discrimination (under the State HRL) or whether discrimination was one of the motivating factors for the demotion (under the City HRL) … . Plaintiff presented no evidence of any disparity between defendants’ treatment of him and defendants’ treatment of employees of other races or ethnicities under similar circumstances. While plaintiff’s allegations of remarks that could be interpreted as derogatory or indicative of animus suffice to support the hostile work environment claim … plaintiff fails to identify any evidence connecting such animus, if any, to the decision to demote him … . Kwong v City of New York, 2022 NY Slip Op 02342, First Dept 4-7-22

Practice Point: Facts sufficient to state a cause of action for a hostile work environment do not necessarily state a cause of action for employment discrimination. A connection must be made between the hostile work environment claims (here allegations plaintiff’s accent was mocked) and the discrimination (here a demotion).

 

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