Second Circuit revives discrimination claims

New York employers need to know about a recent employment law decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the federal appellate court that has jurisdiction over the U.S. District Courts in New York, Connecticut, and Vermont. A former laundromat employee alleged “discriminatory and retaliatory termination, a hostile work environment, refusal to accommodate her disability, and unpaid wages.” The employer had discharged her for taking $15 from a cash register. Nevertheless, the Second Circuit vacated the District Court’s summary judgment (dismissal without a trial) ruling and reinstated the employee’s claims against her former employer.

Facts

From December 2018 until her termination in April 2019, Natasha Knox, a Black woman of Jamaican descent, worked as a customer service attendant at three Clean Rite laundromats in the Bronx. She contended that a supervisor made derogatory comments to her on a daily basis, telling her she was “too ‘hood’ and ‘ghetto’ to work” for Clean Rite. Another supervisor remarked to her that she “looked like Aunt Jemima.”

After Knox injured her thumb in a car accident, she told a supervisor that her doctor had instructed her not to lift more than 25 pounds during her shifts. When she sought this accommodation, a supervisor responded that she “shouldn’t have this job” if she needed an accommodation.