August 09, 2023

Plaintiff's allegations of unlawful discrimination and retaliation dismissed

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed Plaintiff's claims of age, race, and gender discrimination and retaliation within the meaning of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. §621 et seq., Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §2000e et seq., and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. §1981.

Plaintiff appealed, contending that the district court had applied an incorrect legal standard to her retaliation claim and that it erroneously concluded that she had failed to demonstrate that her employer, the New York City Transit Authority's [Authority] race neutral explanations for not selecting her for two internal promotions were pretextual.

The Second Circuit of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the district court.

Initially the Circuit Court held that Plaintiff had not demonstrated that the Authority's explanations for her non-promotions were pretextual. 

Second, the Circuit Court opined "although the district court applied an incorrect standard to her retaliatory hostile work environment claim, Plaintiff had, nevertheless, failed to make out a prima facie case of retaliation and did not demonstrate that the Authority non-retaliatory explanations were pretextual"

Click HERE to access the text of the Second Circuit's decision posted on the Internet.