Taylor v. City of New York

207 F. Supp. 3d 293, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124289, 2016 WL 4768829
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 13, 2016
DocketNo. 15-CV-7454 (RA)
StatusPublished
Cited by58 cases

This text of 207 F. Supp. 3d 293 (Taylor 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
Taylor v. City of New York, 207 F. Supp. 3d 293, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124289, 2016 WL 4768829 (S.D.N.Y. 2016).

Opinion

[297]*297OPINION & ORDER

RONNIE ABRAMS, United States District Judge.

Plaintiff Tiffany Taylor brings this employment discrimination action against the City of New York and her former employer, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”). Taylor alleges that she was discriminated against on the basis of her sex, race, color, and national origin in violation of Title YII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq.; the New York State Human Rights Law (the “NYSHRL”), N.Y. Exec. Law § 296; and the New York City Human Rights Law (the “NYCHRL”), N.Y. City Admin. Code § 8-101 et seq. Taylor also claims racial discrimination in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981. Finally, she brings state law claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent hiring, retention, and supervision. Defendants have moved to dismiss the Amended Complaint for failure to state a claim. For the reasons set forth below, Defendants’ motion is granted in part and denied in part.

BACKGROUND

Taylor, “a Black American woman,” was hired by the DEP in 2001 as a level three clerical associate and has been a principal administrative associate (“PAA”) level one since 2005. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 8, 24-26. She alleges that “[o]ver the course of [her] fourteen years of employment at the DEP, Defendants have repeatedly subjected [her] to unlawful discrimination and harassment because of her sex, race, color, and national origin, as well as to unlawful retaliation.” Id. ¶ 2. Taylor makes four primary categories of allegations: (1) she was not promoted to PAA level two or three; (2) she was not hired as an apprentice construction laborer or construction laborer; (3) she was subject to a hostile work environment; and (4) she was retaliated against when she complained of the unequal treatment. Because the hostile work environment and retaliation claims involve common facts, the Court will address those allegations together.

I. Failure to Hire: Construction Laborer and Apprentice Construction Laborer

Taylor first alleges that DEP repeatedly failed to hire her as an apprentice construction laborer and construction laborer because of her sex, race, color, and national origin. Apprentice construction laborers and construction laborers are responsible for repairing and maintaining DEP’s infrastructure. See id. Ex. D. To become an apprentice construction laborer, one must possess a New York Driver’s License and comply with certain medical and physical requirements. Id. ¶ 63 (citing Ex. D). “To become a Construction Laborer an employee must train as an Apprentice Construction Laborer.” Id. ¶ 36.

From “2002 to present,” there have been apprentice construction laborer positions available, but, according to the Amended Complaint, the DEP only hired men for these positions, id. ¶¶ 37-40, and “most if not all of the males hired from 2002 to 2013 were relatives or close friends of DEP employees,” id. ¶ 41. Taylor alleges that she applied for the apprentice construction laborer position fourteen times: in May 2002, September 2002, February 2003, June 2003, August 2004, June 2005, April 2007, April 2008, May 2009, April 2010, June 2011, June 2012, May 2013, and May 2014. Id. ¶¶ 48-58, 60. Despite purportedly meeting the minimum qualification requirements for the position, however, none of Taylor’s applications were successful. Id. ¶¶ 59, 65; see also id. Ex. D. She claims that the men who were hired for this position “are significantly less qualified” than she, and cites the example of William Dinn, a construction laborer who “suffers from a medical condi[298]*298tion that prohibits his ability to drive and operate machinery, a fundamental requirement of the job.” Id. ¶¶ 61-62.

Taylor also alleges that she “applied on multiple occasions” for the construction laborer position, but does not indicate when. Id. ¶ 44. She was told “on a consistent basis, from 2002 to the present,” by supervisors and co-workers “not to bother applying because she is a woman and women are not hired for Construction Laborer positions.” Id. ¶ 47. Finally, of the 370 construction laborer positions at the DEP, she alleges only two are occupied by women, id. ¶¶ 34-35, and only one of those two women was hired in the past twenty years. Id. ¶ 45.1

II. Failure to Promote: Administrative Level Two or Three

Taylor alleges, next, that despite making “numerous inquiries related to the possibility of a promotion” since 2005, DEP failed to promote her to PAA levels two or three “because she is a woman.” Id. ¶ 73. She suggests that the reason two supervisors provided—that she could not be promoted to these positions because she did not work in the main office—was pretextual because two white females and one white male work as PAA level two or three even though they work outside of the main office. Id. ¶¶ 68-72.

III. Hostile Work Environment and Retaliation

Taylor also complains of a hostile work environment and retaliation. Specifically, she alleges that between 2004 and 2006, a white male supervisor, James Watson, posted pictures of monkeys in the common area “because of his dislike for blacks” and other male supervisors, were “aware of Mr. Watson’s conduct and were complicit with his actions.” Id. ¶¶ 77-78. During the same time period, he also purportedly “badgered” her by spitting into and tampering with her food. Id. ¶ 79. Taylor also claims that, around this time and continuing to the filing of her complaint, her co-workers—including her supervisor Jorge Morales—called her a “bitch” and other profanities, and, “as a result, [she] has been caused much humiliation and has felt degraded.” Id. ¶ 80.

In 2005, Taylor sent a letter to her union representative complaining that she was being discriminated against because she is a black woman. Id. ¶¶ 83-84. This letter was also sent via email to various members of management, including Watson. Id. ¶ 85. In February 2006, Taylor contends that she was told “pursuant to an investigation” that nothing could be done in response to her complaint “because it was her word against everyone else.” Id. ¶ 86. Instead, in May 2006, she claims that, as retaliation for her complaint, she was transferred from Jerome Avenue Yard worksite in the Bronx to DEP’s North 15 location in Brooklyn. Id. ¶ 87. This transfer occurred notwithstanding Taylor’s complaints that it would considerably increase her commute time and costs. Id. ¶ 88.

Taylor alleges that the hostile work environment persisted at her new worksite, id. ¶ 89, in part, because Watson was also transferred to the North 15 location a few months after she began working there. Id. ¶ 90. After his transfer, he immediately confronted her about her previous complaint, and also “made it clear that he [299]*299would get her fired.” Id. ¶ 91. Taylor notified her superiors of his behavior, purportedly to no avail. Id. ¶¶ 92-95.

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207 F. Supp. 3d 293, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124289, 2016 WL 4768829, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-city-of-new-york-nysd-2016.