Supreme Court granted New York City's motion to dismiss the Plaintiff's [Employee] unlawful discrimination complaint and denied Employee's cross-motion to compel discovery as moot. The Appellate Division unanimously affirmed the Supreme Court's decision, noting that "Supreme Court properly dismissed the complaint as against defendant New York City Police Department, which is a non-suable agency of the City", citing Troy v City of New York, 160 AD3d 410.
Addressing the merits of the Employee's complaint, the Appellate Division said "Plaintiff failed to allege any nonconclusory facts linking his termination to his religion rather than his noncompliance with the [New York City's] vaccine mandate" as he cited no nexus to a religious prohibition against vaccination.
The Court also observed that Employee failed to establish he suffered "constructive discharge" as "he advanced no nonconclusory facts that the Employer deliberately created working conditions so intolerable, difficult or unpleasant that a reasonable person would have felt compelled to resign".
With respect to Employee's alleged "lack of cooperative dialogue" claim, the Appellate Division noted that Supreme Court had properly dismissed that contention as Employee had "availed himself of the approved appeals process and failed to establish how it fell short of the New York State or New York City Human Rights Law."
The Appellate Division also noted that Employee's "Free Exercise claim fails, as there is no private right of action to recover damages for state constitutional violations where alternative remedies exist".
Click HERE to access the Appellate Division's decision posted on the Internet.