Alie v. Nynex Corp.

158 F.R.D. 239, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16797, 66 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 812, 1994 WL 660351
District Court, E.D. New York·Decided August 5, 1994·No. No. 93-CV-2954 (JRB)·Published·Cited by 33 cases

Opinion

[242] MEMORANDUM-DECISION AND ORDER

BARTELS, District Judge.

The defendant NYNEX Corporation (“NYNEX”) moves this Court under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for an order dismissing plaintiffs first amended complaint (the “Amended Complaint”). Defendant urges that the Amended Complaint fails to allege the requisite elements of the claims asserted under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.), Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 (42 U.S.C. § 1981), the New York State Human Rights Law (N.Y. Executive Law § 296), and the New York City Human Rights Law (New York City Charter and Administrative Code, Title 8, Ch. 1, § 8-101 et seq.). NYNEX argues in the alternative that because plaintiff was employed by its subsidiary, defendant Teleseetor Resources Group, Inc. (“TRG”),1 plaintiff cannot hold NYNEX liable for any discriminatory acts in which TRG may have engaged. For the reasons set forth below, the Court grants the motion, but also grants plaintiff leave to replead.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Muyee Alie is a native of China who was employed by defendant TRG. TRG is a wholly-owned subsidiary of New York Telephone Company and New England Telephone and Telegraph Company, which in turn are wholly-owned subsidiaries of defendant NYNEX. While at TRG, Alie held the position of Associate Director of the Special Billing Output District (“Special Billing”). That position conferred upon her the responsibility to oversee the development of an invoice billing system. Plaintiff alleges that during most of her tenure as Associate Director of Special Billing, she served as an important member of the team working on the invoice billing project, and was included in all staff and client meetings. (Amended Complaint, ¶ 10.)

The Amended Complaint alleges that despite plaintiffs superior performance as Associate Director, the nature of her position changed dramatically when, in March of 1989, TRG assigned Irma Lauter to head Special Billing. At this time, Lauter became plaintiffs immediate supervisor. Plaintiff Alie asserts that Lauter intentionally excluded her from meetings at which she previously would have played an integral role, and replaced her with less experienced and less knowledgeable white employees. (Amended Complaint, ¶ 11.) Alie asserts that she and other minority supervisors routinely were transferred out of Lauter’s department, (id. at ¶ 13), and that plaintiff herself was targeted for such a transfer despite her superior work performance. (Id. at ¶ 14.) Lauter purportedly retained Alie during development of the invoice billing system, but transferred her immediately upon the project’s completion. Plaintiff alleges that Lauter engaged in a pattern and practice of transferring minority supervisors out of her department, and in fact retained on the billing project team a white male employee about whom a customer, MCI, specifically had complained. (Id. at ¶ 12.)

The core of plaintiffs discrimination claim lies in defendants’ failure to credit her with an Extra Merit Award (“EMA”) for her participation in the development of the invoice billing system. Alie contends that upon conclusion of the billing project, each team member responsible for development of the system, except plaintiff, received an EMA. (Amended Complaint, ¶ 16.) She asserts that defendants intentionally withheld the EMA from her solely on the basis of her race, color, and national origin, and that the wrongful denial of the EMA ultimately led to her discharge, on or about December 11, 1992, during a workforce reduction. (Id. at ¶¶ 17, 7.) Although TRG allegedly utilized a set of “neutral criteria” to determine which employees would be discharged, plaintiff claims that TRG’s partial reliance on whether an employee had received an EMA had the effect of discriminating against her on the basis of her race. (Id. at ¶¶ 17-21.) Plaintiff now seeks reinstatement to her former position with defendant TRG.

[243] DISCUSSION

The court’s function on a motion to dismiss “is not to weigh the evidence that might be presented at a trial but merely to determine whether the complaint itself is legally sufficient.” Festa v. Local 3 Int’l Bhd. of Elec. Workers, 905 F.2d 35, 37 (2d Cir.1990). Thus, the relevant inquiry is not whether the plaintiff ultimately will prevail, but whether she is entitled to offer evidence in support of her claims. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 1686, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974). Unless the movant successfully persuades the court “beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of [her] claim which would entitle [her] to relief,” the motion to dismiss must be denied. Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 101-02, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957). Accord Ricciuti v. New York City Transit Auth., 941 F.2d 119, 123 (2d Cir.1991); Branum v. Clark, 927 F.2d 698, 705 (2d Cir. 1991). The court must apply this standard with particular strictness where, as here, the complaint alleges a violation of plaintiffs civil rights. Branum, 927 F.2d at 705 (and cases cited therein).

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Alie v. Nynex Corp., 158 F.R.D. 239, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16797, 66 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 812, 1994 WL 660351 (E.D.N.Y. 1994).

158 F.R.D. 239 (Alie v. Nynex Corp.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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