Abdi v. Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC

447 F. Supp. 2d 221, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60983, 88 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 42,544, 2006 WL 2466935
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedAugust 16, 2006
DocketCV 05-2741
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 447 F. Supp. 2d 221 (Abdi v. Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Abdi v. Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC, 447 F. Supp. 2d 221, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60983, 88 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 42,544, 2006 WL 2466935 (E.D.N.Y. 2006).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

WEXLER, District Judge.

Sahara Abdi (“Abdi”) brings this action against defendants Brookhaven Science Associates (“BSA”), Peter Bond (“Bond”), Andrew Ferguson (“Ferguson”), Martin Gormezano (“Gormezano”), and Frank Quarant (“Quarant”) (collectively, “defendants”), asserting claims for or under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d et seq. (“Title VI”); Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (“Title VII”); 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1985(3), and 1986; the New York State Human Rights Law, N.Y. Exec. Law § 290 et seq. (“NYSHRL”); breach of contract; and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The individual defendants are sued in their official and individual capacities. Defendants move to dismiss all but the Title VI and Title VII claims under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“FRCP”) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. 1 Abdi opposes the motion.

I. BACKGROUND

For present purposes, the allegations of the complaint can be summarized as follows: Abdi is a female Muslim from Somalia, Africa. In November 2002, she began working at Brookhaven National Laboratory (“BNL”) in Upton, New York, a facility in which research in various areas of atomic science is conducted. BNL is managed and operated by BSA, a nonprofit, New York limited liability company, under a contract with the Department of Energy. Abdi, a contract employee for DecisionOne, worked for BSA as a Systems Administrator in the Information Technology Division (the “ITD”) under the direct supervision of Ferguson and Gormezano. Quarant was the manager of the ITD, and Bond headed the ITD.

Abdi alleges that she was subjected to discrimination by defendants based on her race/color and religion and then faced retaliation in the form of harassment and *224 wrongful termination because of her opposition to defendants’ discriminatory practices. In this respect, Abdi alleges that in or about March 2003, she was assigned to share an office with the only other African-American employees in her work group. While the other employees in her group were assigned to two-person, all white offices, she and her office mates shared the only three-person office. Abdi and her office mates brought their concerns regarding the appearance of “mini segregation” to Ferguson, who promised to correct the arrangement, but faked to do so. In April 2003, Gormezano made an offensive remark to Abdi at a company lunch after overhearing Abdi tell a coworker that she did not eat pork because of her religion. Gormezano allegedly commented, “Sahara, we eat everything here. We eat camels, goats and snakes.” Complaint ¶ 22. According to Abdi, Gormeza-no was involved in two other incidents of harassment toward her.

On May 1, 2003, Abdi met with Ferguson, who allegedly made several comments implying that Abdi was not qualified for her position and that coworkers felt the same way about her, and that she was only hired because of her friendship with a manager named Scott Bradley. Nevertheless, Ferguson also told her: “You are doing a good job. Your users love you. I have not heard any complaints from them. But I know you miss your family and if you wanted to leave I would understand. But stay until the summer ends.... I don’t know what will happen in the future, but you are ok for now.” Complaint ¶ 30. Abdi took this as a veiled threat to terminate her. The following day, May 2, Abdi asked Ferguson if she should be looking for a new job. He stated that her position would be uncertain if Bradley left BNL. Later that day, Abdi met with another manager, Phil Garguilo (“Garguilo”), and discovered that Ferguson had concocted or spread a story that Abdi was unable to fix a file server, allegedly to tarnish Abdi’s excellent record and provide a pretext to discipline, demote or fire her.

Abdi immediately notified Bond, the head of the ITD, regarding her discussions with Ferguson. On May 5, Bond stated that he followed up with Ferguson. He insisted to Abdi that she had misinterpreted Ferguson’s comments and dismissed her complaint. Later that day, Ferguson approached Abdi and stated, “I made two mistakes last week: (1) I trusted you, and (2) I felt sorry for you. That will never happen again. There will be a third person in the room when I am dealing with you.” Complaint ¶ 36.

Abdi again went to Garguilo, who set up a meeting with Bond, Quarant, Ferguson, and Abdi. At that meeting, Abdi raised the issues of Ferguson’s “statements and threats,” the “black office,” and Gormeza-no’s “offensive remarks.” Complaint ¶ 37. During the meeting, Quarant allegedly stated that three days had been wasted on “a minor issue” and reassured Abdi that she was not being laid off and asked her to forget what happened. Complaint ¶38. Ferguson then apologized for his offensive comments. Nevertheless, according the Abdi, her concerns of racial discrimination were not addressed and Gormezano’s offensive remarks were not discussed. According to Abdi, Quarant and Gormezano, whom Abdi alleges were friends and longtime neighbors, privately discussed Abdi and her concerns before the meeting. Abdi requested a transfer to another department, but her request was denied, and she continued to report to the same direct supervisors.

After these events, Abdi’s workload gradually decreased. In July 2003, she was notified that she was being laid off at the end of that month due to budget con *225 straints, an alleged pretext. Abdi was laid off at the end of July 2003. According to Abdi, the purported “budget crunch” was untrue, as demonstrated when Bond announced the award of additional funding on August 8, 2003, only one week after Abdi was laid off.

Just before she was laid off, Abdi contacted BSA’s Diversity Manager, Shirley Kendall, to discuss her complaints. Kendall initiated an investigation of Abdi’s complaints, but the investigation ceased when Abdi was laid off. Sometime thereafter, Abdi filed charges of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). In February 2004, in response to Abdi’s EEOC complaint, Kendall conducted further investigation and concluded that inappropriate remarks directed at Abdi constituted a hostile work environment.

According to Abdi, the EEOC issued a Letter of Determination, dated November 19, 2004, in which it concluded that “BSA discriminated against [Abdi] based on her race and religion, and then retaliated against her for complaining.” Complaint ¶ 45. The EEOC also concluded that the decision to reduce Abdi’s workload and discharge her reflected “a clear violation of Title VII.” Complaint ¶ 11.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Sofia v. Esposito
S.D. New York, 2019
Carris v. First Student, Inc.
132 F. Supp. 3d 321 (N.D. New York, 2015)
Zaidi v. Amerada Hess Corp.
723 F. Supp. 2d 506 (E.D. New York, 2010)
Harris v. County of Nassau
581 F. Supp. 2d 351 (E.D. New York, 2008)
Petruso v. Schlaefer
474 F. Supp. 2d 430 (E.D. New York, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
447 F. Supp. 2d 221, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60983, 88 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 42,544, 2006 WL 2466935, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/abdi-v-brookhaven-science-associates-llc-nyed-2006.