April 3, 2013 By

Female Officer Told That Her Husband Was Not “Taking Care of Her in Bed” Presents Valid Sexual Harassment Claim but Retaliatory Discharge Claim Dismissed

By Mitchel Wilson

The Federal 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, in Desarduoin v. City of Rochester, 117 FEP Cases 778 (2d Cir. 2013) reestablished a fired female police security officer’s sexual harassment/discrimination claim against the City of Rochester, New York under Title VII, while affirming the dismissal of her retaliation and state law claims.  The court concluded the lower court erred in granting summary judgment on the employee’s gender discrimination claim when she alleged her supervisor made unsolicited sexual advances from May to July of 2007, but correctly dismissed her retaliation and state law claims. The employer was able to defeat her retaliation claim when it showed that it acted for a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason, when it fired her for secretly recording fellow officers, a felony and violation of department policy.

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Filed Under: Discrimination, Gender/Pregnancy Discrimination
February 8, 2013 By

“No Harm, No Foul” is not a Defense for a Failure to Promote Claim When Corrective Action Took Place After the Lawsuit was Filed, Court Holds.

By David Worley

In Kosek v. Luzerne County (116 FEP Cases 1244 (M.D. Pa. 2012)), the court denied the County’s summary judgment motion concerning a discrimination lawsuit brought by a Corrections Counselor. The Officer claimed that the  County had failed to promote the most qualified candidate for discriminatory reasons, and, although later corrected its action, did so only after the Correction Counselor had filed a grievance and separate lawsuit.  

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Filed Under: Discrimination, Gender/Pregnancy Discrimination, Legal Rights
January 29, 2013 By

White Female Police Officer’s Race and Gender Discrimination Claim Survives Summary Judgment When Black Mayor Wants to Hire “His People”

By David Worley

In Zagaja v. Village of Freeport (116 FEP Cases 1227), the plaintiff’s claims of race and gender discrimination, survived summary judgment when she pleaded sufficient facts to indicate that the Mayor’s hiring of minority and male candidates (and demotion of herself), was based on race, and any other reasons were pretextual. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Discrimination, Gender/Pregnancy Discrimination, Race Discrimination
November 30, 2012 By

NYC Not Liable for Title VII Sexual Harassment: Officer Unreasonably Failed to Report the Harassment for Over One Year Despite Available Procedure

By Kate Acheson

Plaintiff Tracy Joyner, a New York City Corrections Officer, filed suit against the City of New York for discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII after her supervisor made repeated sexual advances towards her.  In Joyner v. City of New York, the District Court dismissed all federal claims, finding that, although Ms. Joyner was sexually harassed, the City is not liable because Ms. Joyner waited over a year before reporting the harassment. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Discrimination, Gender/Pregnancy Discrimination
September 6, 2012 By

Correctional Officer’s Claim of a Denial of Equal Protection Against a Supervisor Must be Dismissed Because the Supervisor’s Actions Did not Constitute Sexual Harassment as to Her

By Rick Gautschi

In Duncan v. Dakota County, No. 11-2467, August 3, 2012 (8th Cir. 2012), Toni Duncan worked as a correctional officer for Duncan County, NE, under the supervision of Chief Deputy Sheriff Rodney Herron.  After leaving the job, she sued the County and Mr. Herron officials pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §1983.  She claimed that through the actions of Mr. Herron, the county had, in the forms of sexually harassing and constructively discharging her, denied her equal protection in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.  Specifically, Ms. Duncan alleged that Mr. Herron had created a sexually charged work environment by fostering widespread sexual favoritism in the form of engaging in sexual relationships with subordinates and rewarding his favorites.  Ms. Duncan produced no evidence that Mr. Herron had ever threatened or humiliated her.  Further, she admitted that she was not promoted to an open position only because she chose not to apply for the position.   Mr. Herron argued that the trial court should have determined that the doctrine of qualified immunity precluded Ms. Duncan from proceeding against him. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Discrimination, Gender/Pregnancy Discrimination, Legal Rights
August 20, 2012 By

Arizona Federal Court Judge Rules that Police Department Engaged in Sex Discrimination by Requiring Physical Fitness Test

By Rick Gautschi

In State of Ariz. v. City of Cottonwood, 115 FEP Cases 998, No. CV-11-2-1576-PHX-GMS, July 20, 2012, D. Az., sometime around 2000, as the result of agreements with the Arizona Peace Officers Standards and Training Board (AZ POST) and other law enforcement agencies in Arizona, Fitness Intervention Technologies (FIT) conducted a study for the purpose of developing a physical fitness test for law enforcement officers.  Subsequently, FIT presented the test to AZPOST, whose director rejected the use of the test out of a concern that if administered, it was likely to have a disparate impact on women.  In December 2006, the City of Cottonwood (City) Police Department (CPD) adopted a general order that required incumbent officers and applicants for officer positions to pass the FIT physical fitness test.  The policy gave incumbent officers three years to pass the test.  The policy was silent as to officers who applied for promotions.  Regardless, CPD’s Chief added passing the test to the department’s requirements for promotion.  In early 2007, Monica Kuhlt (Ms. Kuhlt) applied for promotion to sergeant.  She took the physical fitness test but did not pass all the elements of it.  In May 2008, she applied for an open sergeant position, but again she failed the physical fitness test and suffered a back injury in the process of taking the test.  She then filed a claim of discrimination with a state agency.  In February 2009, the agency dismissed the claim but on April 1, 2009, reinstated it at her request.  Subsequently, she supplied a doctor’s note that recommended substituting, for her, an aerobic activity other than the test’s required 1.5 mile run.  CPD sent her to another doctor who opined that because of her inability to run, she was not fit to be a police officer.  A lawsuit for sex discrimination and retaliation for having opposed sex discrimination followed.

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Filed Under: Discrimination, Gender/Pregnancy Discrimination
August 16, 2012 By

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Rules that Repeated Hostile References to a Woman Employee as a “Bitch” Support a Claim of Sexual Harassment

By Rick Gautschi

 In Passananti v. Cook County, No. 11-1182, Slip Opinion, July 20, 2012, 7th Cir., Beginning in 2004, over a period of approximately three years, a former director of the Day Reporting Center (DRC) in Cook County, IL, on numerous occasions, referred to the then-deputy director, Kimberly Passananti, as a “bitch.” At times, references came in face-to-face meetings between director and Ms. Passananti. On other occasions, the director made the references in front of other employees and he used the same term to refer to other women employees at the DRC. The claim that the director used the term in a hostile manner was shown, for example, by his repeated statements to Ms. Passananti that she was a “stupid bitch” and when he directed her to “shut the ‘F’ up, you lyin’ bitch.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Gender/Pregnancy Discrimination
August 14, 2012 By

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment Dismissal of Former Probationary Female Corrections Officer

By Rick Gautschi

In Jeudy v. Attorney General, Department of Justice, No. 11-15838, Slip. Opinion, July 26, 2012, 11th Cir.,during her probationary period of employment, a pregnant corrections officer informed her employer that as the result of her pregnancy, she experienced severe pelvic pain caused by fibroids on her uterus. According to the officer, the severe pain limited her ability to walk, stand and climb stairs. She requested an accommodation in the form of being allowed to change her shift and work while seated. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Disability Discrimination, Discrimination, Gender/Pregnancy Discrimination