Allyn & Fortuna LLPBy: Megan J. Muoio, June 2, 2017 On March 27, 2017, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decided in favor of the plaintiff in Christiansen v. Omnicom Group, Inc., a case involving the issue of sexual orientation discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In Christiansen, a gay employee brought a suit against his employer under the sex discrimination provision of Title VII. The employer moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that sexual orientation discrimination…
By: Megan J. Muoio, April 3, 2017 On March 27, 2017, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decided the case of Christiansen v. Omnicom Group, Inc., an appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The Second Circuit reinstated the plaintiff’s claim for gender stereotyping under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but declined to overturn earlier precedent about sexual orientation discrimination under Title VII. A strong concurrence by two…
By: Megan J. Muoio, November 25, 2015 On October 21, 2015, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) finding that two employees were improperly fired because of negative discussion of their employer on the social media site Facebook. The employees were non-union employees at the Triple Play Sports Bar and Grille located in Watertown, Connecticut. In the case before the NLRB, Three D, LLC (Triple Play) was found to have illegally fired two employees in connection with Facebook complaints…
Diana Uhimov, September 10, 2015 On Wednesday, September 9, 2015 the Second Circuit reinstated a sex discrimination case brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Sterling Jewelers Inc. under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The suit, initiated in 2008, arose from charges from women who worked for Sterling in nine different states. The women accused Sterling, the largest fine-jewelry company in the U.S., of paying retail saleswomen less than their male counterparts and failing to give promotions to women for which they were qualified. Sterling argued in…
Diana Uhimov, July 31, 2015 The Second Circuit made two business-friendly rulings on July 2, 2015 in the closely watched proposed class action cases involving interns that claimed they should have been classified as employees. The Court of Appeals struck down a trial court decision that determined two unpaid interns were employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law in the wage case, Glatt et al. v. Fox Searchlight Pictures Inc. It also upheld a ruling that denied certification in another unpaid intern case against the Hearst Corp. The…
Diana Uhimov, June 11, 2014. Eastern District Judge Nicholas Garaufis’ decision last month in United States v. American Express held that a plaintiff is not required to establish a defendant’s market power to prove a vertical restraint in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. A firm with market power has the ability to influence the price of an item by exercising control over its demand, supply, or both. The U.S. Department of Justice brought this action against American Express, among other credit card companies, disputing their…