Kane Kessler litigators successfully obtained dismissal of a complaint against its client alleging racial discrimination, hostile work environment and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the New York State Human Rights law and New York City Human Rights Law. The plaintiff had alleged that the client, a construction services company, engaged in unlawful conduct by, among other things, failing to promote the plaintiff on the basis of race. Kane Kessler had successfully obtained dismissal of the virtually identical complaint brought by plaintiff in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York approximately one year earlier. Duff. v. Pristine Services, Inc., No. 19-CV-10423, 2021 WL 663981 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 19, 2021). In an opinion and order, dated May 12, 2023, the Honorable Pam Jackman Brown, J.S.C. of the New York State Supreme Court, County of Queens, dismissed the complaint in its entirety holding that the plaintiff was collaterally estopped from bringing the complaint in state court and that plaintiff failed to state a claim even under the “broader standard” of the New York City Human Rights Law. The attorneys for the Firm who represented the client were S. Reid Kahn and Jonathan M. Sabin of the firm’s Litigation Department.
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