Kurschus v. PaineWebber, Inc.

16 F. Supp. 2d 386, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12460, 1998 WL 476248
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedAugust 12, 1998
Docket95 Civ. 1652 (PKL)
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 16 F. Supp. 2d 386 (Kurschus v. PaineWebber, Inc.) 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
Kurschus v. PaineWebber, Inc., 16 F. Supp. 2d 386, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12460, 1998 WL 476248 (S.D.N.Y. 1998).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

LEISURE, District Judge.

Plaintiff Eric Kurschus (“Kurschus”) brings this action against defendants Brian Sager, Marlene Sager, the County of Nassau, and John Does 1 through 10 (various police officers, police detectives, and employees of Nassau County), alleging violation of his civil rights under Title 42, United States Code (“U.S.C.”), Section 1983, and various state-law torts. Pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, defendants move for summary judgment. For the reasons stated below, defendants’ motions are granted in part and denied in part.

BACKGROUND 1

In August, 1991, Kurschus began work as a sales assistant in the Mortgage Origination Sales Department of PaineWebber, Inc. (“PaineWebber”). By the summer of 1992, PaineWebber assigned Kurschus to work for two mortgage securities salespersons, Brian Sager and Cosmo Fontana.

As PaineWebber encouraged its employees to foster personal relationships outside of the office, Kurschus and his wife attended several events that Brian and his wife, Marlene Sager, also attended. At a PaineWebber Christmas party in December, 1992, Marlene Sager began to pursue Kurschus. Despite the presence of Kurschus’s wife and Brian Sager at the party, Marlene Sager hugged Kurschus, held his arm, and brushed her body against his.

PaineWebber employees in the Mortgage Origination Sales Department did not have individual phone lines, but shared a desk *390 phone. Marlene Sager would use this phone to call her husband, but following the Christmas party, Marlene Sager began to call Kur-schus on a regular basis. Kurschus and Marlene Sager developed a relationship through these phone calls and confided intimate details of their lives.

In June of 1993, the Sagers invited Kur-schus and his wife to dinner at the Water Club in Manhattan. Marlene Sager rubbed Kurschus’s chest when she walked by him in a hallway and made a sexually provocative remark to Kurschus, which she then repeated to Kurschus’s wife. Kurschus and Marlene Sager continued to speak regularly on the telephone over the next several months. On November 11, 1993, Marlene Sager invited Kurschus to dinner at a restaurant in Manhattan. During the meal, Kur-schus told Marlene Sager that nothing physical would happen between them and that they must remain friends. Following dinner, they went for drinks at another Manhattan restaurant, One If By Land, Two If By Sea.

Kurschus and Marlene Sager met for lunch in December, 1993, at Manana Restaurant in Manhattan. Kurschus reiterated to Mrs. Sager that they would remain friends and that they should limit their contact. Marlene Sager agreed that that was best for everyone. However, at a 1993 PaineWebber Christmas party held at the Sager residence later that month, Marlene Sager held Kur-schus’s arm and introduced him to her friends as “her boy”. Later, she demanded to know why Kurschus avoided and ignored her throughout the evening. Additionally, Marlene Sager cornered Mrs. Kurschus and encouraged her to leave her husband.

Several months later, Brian Sager invited Kurschus, George Tasolides (“Tasolides”), and Mark Wallis, all PaineWebber employees, to play a round of golf at Sager’s country club and to have dinner at his home. Kur-schus accepted the invitation, and on May 14, 1994, the foursome played eighteen holes of golf. Brian Sager, Kurschus, and Tasolides then returned to the Sager home for dinner. Before dinner, the three men and Marlene Sager shared drinks on the patio. The conversation turned to a new home purchased by a fellow PaineWebber employee in Sands Point, New York, near the Sagers’ home in Port Washington. Brian Sager and Taso-lides previously had viewed the property, but Marlene Sager, a licensed real estate agent, offered to show the home to Kurschus.

Kurschus accepted the invitation, and Marlene Sager drove him to the area of the property, which was secluded. Marlene Sager parked her car, and then a sexual incident happened between Marlene Sager and Kur-schus. Kurschus maintains that Marlene Sager initiated the activity, which culminated with Mrs. Sager performing oral sex on Kur-schus in the front seat of her car, and that the entire incident was consensual. Mrs. Sager contends that Kurschus ripped her blouse and forced her against her will to perform the sexual act on him. They then returned to the Sager home for dinner. After an uneventful meal, Marlene Sager walked Kurschus and Tasolides to Tasolides’s car and kissed them both goodnight.

The next day, while at his home, Kurschus spoke on the telephone with Marlene Sager, who, unknown to Kurschus, had told her husband that Kurschus forced himself on her. Kurschus then spoke on the telephone with Brian Sager, who informed Kurschus that they could not work together anymore and that Kurschus must take an HIV test. Since Kurschus’s wife was present, Brian Sager and Kurschus agreed to discuss the matter further at work on Monday. Neither Brian nor Marlene Sager mentioned the issue of force to Kurschus during these conversations.

Shortly after Kurschus arrived at work on Monday, May 16, 1994, he met with Brian Sager. Kurschus apologized for the incident, but Brian Sager insisted that Kurschus leave PaineWebber and take an HIV test. Kur-schus refused both requests. He stated that he would talk to A1 Maripodi, then Paine-Webber’s Senior Vice President in charge of mortgage origination, about a transfer within PaineWebber. Maripodi agreed to allow Kurschus to work for Fontana and Tasolides, and not for Brian Sager.

Mrs. Kurschus, crying and hysterical, called her husband at work that morning after she received a telephone call from Mar *391 lene Sager. The conversation with Marlene Sager had left Mrs. Kurschus shaken and upset. Kurschus left the office for the day to go home to his wife. Before Kurschus arrived home, Brian Sager called Mrs. Kur-schus. This conversation left her more upset than before. That evening, Maripodi called Kurschus and informed him that the Sagers accused him of using force to coerce sex from Marlene Sager. Maripodi indicated that the situation was out of hand and that Kurschus and Brian Sager should meet at work the next morning, Tuesday, May 17,1994.

When Kurschus arrived at work the next morning, he met with Brian Sager, who indicated that the police would arrive soon to arrest Kurschus. Marlene Sager filed a report with the Nassau County Police Department the preceding day, May 16, and the detectives decided to arrest Kurschus. Following the meeting, Pat McDonald, the National Sales Manager for Fixed Income Securities at PaineWebber, instructed Kurschus to leave for the day. Later on Tuesday, May 17, two Nassau County detectives took a written statement from Brian Sager at PaineWebber’s offices.

On Wednesday, May 18, Kurschus arrived at work as usual. Approximately thirty minutes later, two Nassau County detectives arrived at PaineWebber and placed Kurschus under arrest. They did not possess an arrest warrant. The detectives then transported Kurschus to Mineóla, Long Island, where the police photographed and fingerprinted Kurschus.

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Bluebook (online)
16 F. Supp. 2d 386, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12460, 1998 WL 476248, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kurschus-v-painewebber-inc-nysd-1998.