Eisner v. City of New York

166 F. Supp. 3d 450, 2016 WL 828126, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21778
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedFebruary 22, 2016
Docket15-cv-1888 (SAS)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 166 F. Supp. 3d 450 (Eisner v. City of New York) 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
Eisner v. City of New York, 166 F. Supp. 3d 450, 2016 WL 828126, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21778 (S.D.N.Y. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

Shira A. Scheindlin, United States District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Susan Eisner brings this action under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the New York City Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”) for disability discrimination and retaliation by her former employer, the City of New York (“the City”), and its employees. She alleges that as a result of her disability and the filing of earlier disability discrimination complaints she received negative employment reviews, had 'pay withheld, and was ultimately terminated.

Defendants now move for summary judgment on all claims. For the following reasons that motion is GRANTED.

II. BACKGROUND

From May 2000 until her termination in June 2013, Eisner was employed as an Assistant Corporation Counsel (“ACC”) by the City’s Law Department, which is “responsible for all of New York City’s legal affairs.”1 Beginning in 2005, Eisner worked in the Appeals Division of the Law Department representing the City in appellate litigation in both state and federal court.2

Eisner had previously complained of disability discrimination and retaliation both internally and through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). These claims were settled on July 20, 2012, and pursuant to that settlement the parties have stipulated that Eisner will not attempt to recover from claims arising prior to the settlement.3 Nonetheless, the facts giving rise to the prior complaints are necessary to understand the present action.

A. Settled Claims

In 2009, the quality of Eisner’s work at the Appeals Division began to suffer, which she attributed to her subsequent diagnosis with “Major Depression, Severe, Single Episode ... induced post-partum following the birth of a child” and “Anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive disorders.”4 According to Eisner, her supervisor, Kristin Helmers,5 remarked that she was “not high-functioning” and that “no magic pill can fix you.”6 Eisner’s 2009 performance review, conducted by Helmers, reflected her decreased job performance.7

[453]*453Following receipt of the negative evaluation, Eisner filed an internal Equal Employment Opportunity (“EEO”) complaint alleging disability discrimination and retaliation by Helmers.8 Defendant Muriel Goode-Trufant, the EEO Officer for the Law Department throughout Eisner’s tenure, conducted an investigation that resulted in Helmers’s reassignment to a different team and the 2009 evaluation being stricken from Eisner’s personnel file.9

In 2010, the Law Department was forced to “eliminate three attorney positions” due to budgetary constraints and selected Eisner and two other attorneys deemed to be the “lowest performers” in the division for transfer to other divisions.10 Instead of accepting the transfer, Eisner opted to take a vacant part-time attorney position in the Appeals Division at the urging of her treating psychiatrist who recommended “that she needed the stability of staying in the Appeals Division.” 11

As a result of being forced to accept a part-time position, on February 28, 2011, Eisner filed a complaint with the EEOC because she felt the decision to transfer her resulted from continued disability discrimination and retaliation for her earlier complaint against Helmers.12 In April 2012, Eisner was restored to full-time status at the Appeals Division.13 That same month, the EEOC issued a “Dismissal and Notice of Rights” finding that “the EEOC is unable to conclude that the information obtained establishes violations of the statutes.” 14 Nonetheless, the parties agreed to settle the issue by agreement on July 20, 2012, whereby Eisner released all claims of discrimination and retaliation arising prior to that date.15

B. Present Claims

Eisner continued to work for the Appeals Division until her termination on June 3, 2013. Defendants offer two reasons for her termination: (1) a negative 2012 performance evaluation and her performance on the cases evaluated therein and (2) “questions about plaintiffs ability to follow supervisory direction and legitimate concerns about the honesty of plaintiffs timekeeping” following Hurricane Sandy.16 The decision to terminate Eisner was “made by ‘consensus’” of all of the individual defendants who were executives in the Law Department with the exception of the EEO Officer, Goode-Trufant.17

1. 2012 Performance Review

On July 23, 2012, the first business day after the settlement of the 2011 charge, defendant Leonard Koerner, Chief of the Appeals Division, completed Eisner’s 2012 performance review.18 The review was the “worst ever given to Eisner.”19 During the twelve month period covered by the evaluation, Eisner’s direct supervisor, Steve [454]*454McGrath — the person who would normally conduct the review — retired and was replaced by Francis Caputo.20 Although Koerner was not Eisner’s direct supervisor, he “took it upon [himself]” to conduct Eisner’s review.21 Koerner, for his part, justified singling out Eisner among all of the people McGrath supervised because “the other people ... were outstanding.”22

Koerner’s and Caputo’s testimony about why Koerner conducted the review conflicts. Koerner testified that Caputo did not want to evaluate Eisner because he was “uncomfortable” conducting the evaluation and that McGrath had declined to do so, although Koerner concedes he never spoke to McGrath after his retirement in January 2012.23 Caputo, on the other hand, testified that Koerner “came to me and said ’I am going to do her evaluation.’”24

The review focused on three specific instances of poor performance. First, the evaluation referenced her work in Matter of Rosenblum v. New York City Conflicts of Interest Board (“COIB”). In June 2010, Eisner represented the COIB at oral argument before the New York Appellate Division, First Department.25 Koerner testified that the COIB found her argument “terrible” and asked for her to be removed from the case.26 This argument was reviewed by McGrath in her 2011 evaluation where he awarded her a “2” (out of 5, with 1 being the highest) for “Courtroom Skills” and remarked that he “like[d] her toughness in court.”27 Nonetheless, Koerner referenced the argument made in the prior evaluation period as the justification for giving Eisner a score of “2.5” for “Oral Communication.”28 Defendants, however, note that her work on the Rosenblum matter continued into the 2012 evaluation period.29

Second, the evaluation referenced her work in the joint argument to the New York Court of Appeals of Nash v. New York City Department of Education and Kahn v. Board of Education of the City School District of the City of New York.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
166 F. Supp. 3d 450, 2016 WL 828126, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21778, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eisner-v-city-of-new-york-nysd-2016.