Donahue v. Asia TV USA Ltd.

208 F. Supp. 3d 505, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129048, 2016 WL 5173381
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 21, 2016
Docket15 Civ. 6490 (NRB)
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 208 F. Supp. 3d 505 (Donahue v. Asia TV USA Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Donahue v. Asia TV USA Ltd., 208 F. Supp. 3d 505, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129048, 2016 WL 5173381 (S.D.N.Y. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

NAOMI REICE BUCHWALD, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Plaintiff Raymond Donahue filed this action against defendants Asia TV USA Ltd. (“Asia TV”), ZEE Entertainment Enterprises, Ltd. (“ZEEL”), Subhash Chandra (“Chandra”), and Suresh Bala Iyer (“Bala”) alleging employment discrimination and retaliation pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. (“Title VII”), the New York State Human Rights Law, N.Y. Exec. Law § 290, et seq. (“NYSHRL”), the New York City Human Rights Law, N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-107 (“NYCHRL”), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, 29 U.S.C. § 621, et seq. (the “ADEA”), the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seq. (the “ADA”), and the Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. § 2601, et seq. (“FMLA”). Presently before the Court are Asia TV’s motion to dismiss the complaint in part and motion to strike, ZEEL’s motion to dismiss the complaint or, in the alternative, dismiss in part and strike, and Chandra’s joinder to ZEEL’s motion. For the reasons stated below, Asia TV’s motion is granted in part and denied in part and ZEEL’s motion is granted in part and denied in part.

BACKGROUND

Donahue is a 58-year-old male American citizen who suffers from clinical depression and insomnia. He worked as Head of Program Sales for Veria Living (now known as Z Living), a health and wellness network owned by Asia TV, from September 10, 2010 until January 9, 2015. In this role, Donahue “(a) [led] and developed] sales and marketing strategies; (b) forecasted] and projected] revenue streams; and (c) coordinated] and directed] a global staff of international sales representatives and commissioned agents in reaching sales goals.” Compl. ¶ 32.

Defendant Chandra, the Chairman of ZEEL’s Board of Directors, played an active role in Asia TV. He owned an apartment in New York and visited Asia TV’s New York offices at least twice a month. [511]*511When visiting, “Chandra regularly met with all high-level employees at Asia TV[, including Donahue,] on a one-on-one basis.” Id. ¶ 23. Chandra used a Veria email address, participated in employee reviews, prepared and reviewed with employees their responses to an executive feedback survey, including Donahue’s, was intimately involved in approving departmental budgets, and approved any expenses exceeding $1,000. In addition, Chandra’s assistant told Donahue that Chandra wanted to confirm the hours employees spent in the office by checking their electronic swipe-cards.

According to Donahue, Chandra and Bala, the Chief Executive Officer of Asia TV, told him more than once that “Americans were lazy, took too much time off, came in [to] work late, left work early, and were litigious.” Id. ¶ 35. In addition, Chandra allegedly told another Asia TV employee that she was “too Americanized” and “think[s] too much like an American,” id. ¶ 67, and told other co-workers that Americans were “overweight and unhealthy,” id. ¶64, that “the family ethos [does] not exist in America,” that “Americans [do] not appropriately discipline their children,” id. ¶ 71, and that Americans get divorced more frequently than Indians. Bala allegedly told a co-worker that “Americans think that a budget is a license to spend money” and that “Americans do not know how to negotiate.” Id. ¶66. In addition, when an employee questioned the wisdom of holding a social gathering on a Friday, when employees may have already made plans at home, Bala allegedly threw an object across the room and shouted, “What is wrong with you people?! You Americans spend too much time with your wives and not enough time with your co-workers.” Id. ¶ 73. Indian managers allegedly told coworkers that Americans were “fat, lazy, dying, watched too much TV, and had too many divorces,” id. ¶ 64, and one Indian manager asked a co-worker, “[w]hy do all you Caucasians think alike?” id. ¶ 79. Finally, American co-workers allegedly perceived the environment as hostile, and stated that Chandra was “distrustful of American employees, and was particularly harsh with American senior executives,” “who were constantly undermined by [Chandra] and other Asian executives,” id. ¶ 74; that he “viewed Americans as divorced, angry, and unhappy, which formed the basis of his belief that Americans needed a ‘companion’ network to fill a void of loneliness,” id. ¶ 75, and “built the Veria Living network because he believed that Americans were fat, lazy, and needed help” and “harbored a derogatory sentiment toward Americans,” id. ¶ 77; and that “an atmosphere of favoritism toward Indian employees at Veria Living” existed alongside “an ‘us vs. them’ mentality among the Indian and American employees,” id. ¶ 76.

On June 25, 2014, Donahue spoke by telephone to Chandra, who told him that Asia TV “needed someone younger” and “that Donahue should start looking for a replacement because he was ‘tired,’ ” Compl. ¶ 45, and suggested as a replacement Vivek Prabhu, a younger, Indian employee. Chandra also told Donahue that he would have a new boss, Sunita Uchil, who was not familiar with sales, Donahue’s particular expertise.

On July 17, 2014, while Chandra was visiting Asia TV’s office in New York, Donahue was placed on 30 days’ notice. Donahue began to experience stress and anxiety, causing him to suffer from chest pains and high blood pressure. As a result, he took medical leave beginning on July 21, 2014. While Donahue was on leave, Asia TV changed its marketing materials and replaced Donahue’s contact information with Prabhu’s.

[512]*512Donahue filed a Charge of Discrimination with the EEOC on August 14, 2014, in which he alleged that he suffered from discrimination and a hostile work environment based on his American national origin and age. On January 9, 2015, Asia TV fired Donahue, who was still on medical leave, and stated that it did so “due to continued losses warranting a restructuring.” Compl. ¶ 55. However, Donahue argues that Asia TV’s proffered reasoning is pretextual, as demonstrated by the fact that Asia TV retained Prabhu. The EEOC issued a determination letter on February 26, 2015, and found reasonable cause to believe' that Asia TV had discriminated against Donahue.

DISCUSSION

I. Asia TV

Asia TV now moves to dismiss Counts Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Fifteen, Eighteen, and Nineteen and to strike the paragraphs in the complaint alleging that Chandra sexually harassed a co-worker, that the EEOC found reasonable cause to believe that Asia TV discriminated against Donahue, and that other co-workers experienced discrimination. We address each argument in turn.

A. Motion to Dismiss

On a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), the Court must accept as true all factual allegations in the complaint and draw all reasonable inferences in the plaintiffs favor. ATSI Commc’ns, Inc, v. Shaar Fund, Ltd., 493 F.3d 87, 98 (2d Cir. 2007). Nonetheless, “[f]actual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level, on the assumption that all the allegations in the complaint are true.” Bell Atl. Corp. v.

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208 F. Supp. 3d 505, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129048, 2016 WL 5173381, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/donahue-v-asia-tv-usa-ltd-nysd-2016.