A recent case in New York gives some guidance on the type of evidence an employee needs to present in order to prove claims of disability discrimination and a hostile work environment under the New York State and City Human Rights Laws. The plaintiff in the case worked for United Cerebral Palsy of New York City for about two years. During that time, she developed a variety of physical ailments including pain in her hands, wrists, and arms. Her physician diagnosed her with tendinitis and initially prescribed physical therapy. As her condition worsened, plaintiff qualified for workers’ compensation and took a medical leave of absence. Plaintiff claims that, when she returned to work, she was discriminated and retaliated against in several ways. She was assigned to a different floor and to work with a different supervisor who, plaintiff claims, created a hostile work environment. She contends that her supervisor criticized her accent, mocked her English, and humiliated plaintiff in front of others by criticizing her English proficiency. Less than three months after plaintiff returned from her leave of absence and started working for the new supervisor, she was fired. She filed a lawsuit for disability discrimination and a hostile work environment in violation of the New York State and New York City Human Rights Laws. Proving Disability DiscriminationIn order to prove a claim of disability discrimination under the New York State Human Rights Law, the plaintiff must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, (a) that she suffers from a disability; (b) that she was qualified to hold the position at issue; and (c) that she suffered an adverse employment action or was terminated from employment under circumstances giving rise to an inference of discrimination. Once the plaintiff presents evidence to prove these three facts, the burden of proof shifts to the employer to rebut the presumption of discrimination by presenting evidence that there were legitimate and nondiscriminatory reasons to support the adverse employment action or termination. The plaintiff then must present evidence to prove that the employer’s reasons are false or pretextual. In this case, the court found that the plaintiff presented enough evidence of discrimination to justify presenting her disability claims to a jury. There was no dispute that the plaintiff suffered from a disability, was qualified for the position, and was terminated. The court also found sufficient evidence that the termination of plaintiff’s employment occurred under circumstances giving rise to an inference of disability discrimination because her supervisor began to single her out after she became disabled. Specifically, she was transferred to a different floor upon her return from leave, assigned inferior job duties, denied access to a computer, a desk and a log-in code, continuously monitored during work hours, repeatedly written up over a short period of time, and denied a cost-of-living raise awarded to all other employees. To the extent the employer tried to defend its actions by claiming that plaintiff’s work performance was deficient, the court found that this defense raised factual issues that had to be decided by a jury. In the words of the court: “Defendants’ assertion that it did not engage in any discrimination towards plaintiff is simply a question of fact to be resolved by the fact finder. The Court, on a motion for summary judgment, cannot credit defendants’ account. Defendants will be able to present at trial their version of events that plaintiff was often missing from her work station and was routinely late or left work early without permission.” Proving a Hostile Work EnvironmentIn order to prove a claim for a hostile work environment, a plaintiff must show that she was subjected to inferior terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of her membership in one or more protected categories. It is important to emphasize that the hostile work environment must be connected to discrimination. It is not enough to show that a manager or supervisor is a mean, nasty person who makes life miserable for everyone. An employee claiming that they were subjected to a hostile work environment must prove that they were singled out because of their race religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation or other impermissible reason. In this case, the court found sufficient evidence that the employer engaged in discriminatory conduct that rose to the level required to support a claim of hostile work environment. The discriminatory conduct included the supervisor mocking plaintiff's accent in the presence of her coworkers, claiming that she did could understand plaintiff, and taunting plaintiff with offers to educate her on how to speak English. In addition, there was evidence that the supervisor engaged in excessive monitoring of plaintiff by reviewing surveillance footage to determine when plaintiff arrived at the office and when she left for to the day, including monitoring when plaintiff left her desk for a bathroom break. Significantly, there was no indication that the supervisor engaged in such close tracking of any other employee under her supervision. According to the court, the evidence was sufficient to support a hostile work environment claim because the supervisor’s conduct created a work environment in which the plaintiff was routinely subjected to harassment, intimidation, and ridicule on a weekly or even daily basis. Get an Experienced Lawyer on Your SideAs this case illustrates, the key to winning your claims of disability discrimination and a hostile work environment is pulling together evidence that you were treated less favorably than other employees, and that you were treated less favorably because of discrimination. Doing that effectively requires the assistance of an experienced employment lawyer.
To find out if you have enough evidence to prove your claims, call us at (212) 601-2728. The consultation is free and completely confidential. And if you have a strong case, we will represent you on a contingency fee basis. This means that you will not owe us any legal fees unless you win.
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