United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York · 2019-03-25
42usc1981: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)
Case and law context
Role: applied; posture: civil; public-school teacher's Section 1981 claims (brought through Section 1983) of race and skin-color discrimination, hostile work environment and retaliation; Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss granted on adoption of the magistrate judge's R & R, with leave to amend (E.D.N.Y.); result: claimant-lost; claim:
Uncertainty
opinion: the R & R is a magistrate judge's recommendation, not a lower-court ruling; it is marked controlling because Judge Chen's order adopts it "in its entirety". The IR text is capped at 60000 chars, so the R & R's disparate-treatment, hostile-environment and retaliation sections are cut off.
Element hostile-environment: route: no route for the because-of-protected-status (race causation) prong of the hostile-environment test
Misfit
None recorded
B · Case × element grid
Top-level elements follow claim order in panels of up to six elements. Case rows repeat across panels. Every recorded block retains its holding and basis; multiple blocks are not merged into a case-level verdict. ✓ satisfied · ✗ not satisfied · ○ not reached · · not addressed. Muted blocks are not counted. Sub-element evidence remains on case and element pages.
Elements 1–6 of 15
| Case | Persons protected by equal contractual rights | Plaintiff has rights in an existing or proposed contract | Formation performance termination or contractual benefits | Judicial intentional-race-discrimination requirement | Judicial but-for causation of contractual injury | Nongovernmental impairment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sosa v. N.Y.C. Dep't of Educ. & Marcy Berger — 368 F. Supp. 3d 489 (2019) · United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York · 2019 (42usc1981: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) | · not addressed | · not addressed |
Elements 7–12 of 15
| Case | Judicial section 1983 remedial route for state-law impairment | Opposition to racial impairment of contract rights | Judicial defendant-knowledge requirement for retaliation | Judicial material-adversity requirement for retaliation | Judicial causation requirement for retaliatory injury | Contract and retaliation scope with noncontract clauses identified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sosa v. N.Y.C. Dep't of Educ. & Marcy Berger — 368 F. Supp. 3d 489 (2019) · United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York · 2019 (42usc1981: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) | · not addressed | · not addressed | · not addressed | · not addressed | · not addressed | · not addressed |
Elements 13–15 of 15
| Case | Judicial hostile-environment threshold and attribution | Claim-specific limitations and accrual | Compensatory equitable punitive and fee remedies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sosa v. N.Y.C. Dep't of Educ. & Marcy Berger — 368 F. Supp. 3d 489 (2019) · United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York · 2019 (42usc1981: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) | · not addressed | · not addressed |
Instances and excluded annotation blocks
| Case | Element | Holding and scope | Pattern | Exact source quotations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sosa v. N.Y.C. Dep't of Educ. & Marcy Berger — 368 F. Supp. 3d 489 (2019) · United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York · 2019 — not · pleaded (42usc1981: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) | Formation performance termination or contractual benefits | not Counted merits instance applied / merits basis: pleaded; opinion: order (Bulsara, M.J. (report and recommendation, adopted in its entirety by the order)); subject: opinion=order (Bulsara, M.J. (report and recommendation, adopted in its entirety by the order)) The district judge overruled the objection to this part of the R & R and adopted it (order @8641..9057). | partial-denial-and-delay-of-schedule-accommodation-letters-to-file-and-unevenly-applied-workplace-rules | "A plaintiff sustains an adverse employment action if he or she endures a materially adverse change in the terms and conditions of employment."Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f_supp_3d_368.jsonl#/f-supp-3d/368/0489-01; Unicode character offsets [50247:50390] (end exclusive); SHA-256 a0a3a1f4d2d4b07c6b8cd3ebf69de3ca10eb819f9c80c558c27375c0b189b780.As to the failure to accommodate and the related delay, Sosa alleges Defendants failed to provide her with a single prep period on one day of the work week, as she had originally requested.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f_supp_3d_368.jsonl#/f-supp-3d/368/0489-01; Unicode character offsets [52744:52933] (end exclusive); SHA-256 a0a3a1f4d2d4b07c6b8cd3ebf69de3ca10eb819f9c80c558c27375c0b189b780.For one thing, because she received almost everything she asked for, there was no negative change in her employment conditions; and one prep period cannot be seen as anything but a de minimis change.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f_supp_3d_368.jsonl#/f-supp-3d/368/0489-01; Unicode character offsets [53276:53475] (end exclusive); SHA-256 a0a3a1f4d2d4b07c6b8cd3ebf69de3ca10eb819f9c80c558c27375c0b189b780.As to the allegations of professional misconduct, Sosa alleges Defendants improperly accused her of missing work, which resulted in at least two disciplinary letters in her file.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f_supp_3d_368.jsonl#/f-supp-3d/368/0489-01; Unicode character offsets [55541:55719] (end exclusive); SHA-256 a0a3a1f4d2d4b07c6b8cd3ebf69de3ca10eb819f9c80c558c27375c0b189b780.Accepting that Sosa was treated differently with respect to these items, there is no allegation they affected her pay, are related to benefits or privileges of employment, or evidenced a demotion.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f_supp_3d_368.jsonl#/f-supp-3d/368/0489-01; Unicode character offsets [57389:57585] (end exclusive); SHA-256 a0a3a1f4d2d4b07c6b8cd3ebf69de3ca10eb819f9c80c558c27375c0b189b780.Without an identifiable adverse employment action, Sosa's claims for race and skin color discrimination under § 1981 and § 1983 must be dismissed.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f_supp_3d_368.jsonl#/f-supp-3d/368/0489-01; Unicode character offsets [58247:58393] (end exclusive); SHA-256 a0a3a1f4d2d4b07c6b8cd3ebf69de3ca10eb819f9c80c558c27375c0b189b780. |
| Sosa v. N.Y.C. Dep't of Educ. & Marcy Berger — 368 F. Supp. 3d 489 (2019) · United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York · 2019 — not · pleaded (42usc1981: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) | Judicial hostile-environment threshold and attribution | not Counted merits instance applied / merits basis: pleaded Decided on the because-of-race requirement of the hostile-environment test only; severity or pervasiveness was assumed arguendo by the R & R and not decided (order @9149..10654). | only-teacher-of-her-origin-and-skin-color-in-unit-without-facts-linking-treatment-to-race | Plaintiff's allegations that she "is the only teacher of West Indian Origin in her unit at P4Q@PS213," that she "is the teacher with the darkest skin color," and that she "is the only African American teacher in her unit at P4Q@PS213 with a disability" (Complaint at ¶¶ 16-18) are not enough to support an inference of causation.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f_supp_3d_368.jsonl#/f-supp-3d/368/0489-01; Unicode character offsets [11515:11844] (end exclusive); SHA-256 a0a3a1f4d2d4b07c6b8cd3ebf69de3ca10eb819f9c80c558c27375c0b189b780.However, the facts alleged by Plaintiff in her complaint and attached exhibits do not support any inference "that a hostile work environment was created and existed because of [her] protected status, either race, color, or national origin."Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f_supp_3d_368.jsonl#/f-supp-3d/368/0489-01; Unicode character offsets [11198:11438] (end exclusive); SHA-256 a0a3a1f4d2d4b07c6b8cd3ebf69de3ca10eb819f9c80c558c27375c0b189b780.Thus, this objection does not provide a basis for rejecting or modifying the R & R and the Court adopts the R & R's recommendation that Plaintiff's § 1981, Title VII, and ADA claims of hostile work environment be dismissed.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f_supp_3d_368.jsonl#/f-supp-3d/368/0489-01; Unicode character offsets [12673:12896] (end exclusive); SHA-256 a0a3a1f4d2d4b07c6b8cd3ebf69de3ca10eb819f9c80c558c27375c0b189b780. |
| Sosa v. N.Y.C. Dep't of Educ. & Marcy Berger — 368 F. Supp. 3d 489 (2019) · United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York · 2019 — satisfied · pleaded (42usc1981: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) | Plaintiff has rights in an existing or proposed contract | satisfied Counted merits instance applied / merits basis: pleaded; opinion: order (Bulsara, M.J. (report and recommendation, adopted in its entirety by the order)); subject: opinion=order (Bulsara, M.J. (report and recommendation, adopted in its entirety by the order)) | public-school-special-education-teacher | Sosa has been employed with the NYCDOE since 1996 and has been a special education teacher since 2004 at P4Q@213, which is located at 67th Avenue in Queens, New York.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f_supp_3d_368.jsonl#/f-supp-3d/368/0489-01; Unicode character offsets [18950:19116] (end exclusive); SHA-256 a0a3a1f4d2d4b07c6b8cd3ebf69de3ca10eb819f9c80c558c27375c0b189b780. |
| Sosa v. N.Y.C. Dep't of Educ. & Marcy Berger — 368 F. Supp. 3d 489 (2019) · United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York · 2019 — satisfied · pleaded (42usc1981: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) | Persons protected by equal contractual rights | satisfied Counted merits instance applied / merits basis: pleaded; opinion: order (Bulsara, M.J. (report and recommendation, adopted in its entirety by the order)); subject: opinion=order (Bulsara, M.J. (report and recommendation, adopted in its entirety by the order)) | african-american-teacher-of-west-indian-origin | Sosa identifies as an African American woman of West Indian origin, with darker-hued skin color.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f_supp_3d_368.jsonl#/f-supp-3d/368/0489-01; Unicode character offsets [19449:19545] (end exclusive); SHA-256 a0a3a1f4d2d4b07c6b8cd3ebf69de3ca10eb819f9c80c558c27375c0b189b780. |
| Sosa v. N.Y.C. Dep't of Educ. & Marcy Berger — 368 F. Supp. 3d 489 (2019) · United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York · 2019 — not · pleaded (42usc1981: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)) | Judicial intentional-race-discrimination requirement | not Counted merits instance applied / merits basis: pleaded | unnamed-caucasian-teachers-whose-scheduling-requests-were-granted | Plaintiff must do more than make conclusory legal allegations that she is substantially similar to her colleagues in order to adequately plead this claim.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f_supp_3d_368.jsonl#/f-supp-3d/368/0489-01; Unicode character offsets [13966:14120] (end exclusive); SHA-256 a0a3a1f4d2d4b07c6b8cd3ebf69de3ca10eb819f9c80c558c27375c0b189b780.Plaintiff alleges that "defendants regularly granted the requests of other Caucasian, non-African American teachers for scheduling changes and classroom transfers."Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f_supp_3d_368.jsonl#/f-supp-3d/368/0489-01; Unicode character offsets [15013:15177] (end exclusive); SHA-256 a0a3a1f4d2d4b07c6b8cd3ebf69de3ca10eb819f9c80c558c27375c0b189b780.However, Plaintiff "fails to describe who these people are, what their responsibilities were, how their workplace conduct compared to [hers], or how they were treated."Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f_supp_3d_368.jsonl#/f-supp-3d/368/0489-01; Unicode character offsets [15199:15367] (end exclusive); SHA-256 a0a3a1f4d2d4b07c6b8cd3ebf69de3ca10eb819f9c80c558c27375c0b189b780.Here, the fact that Plaintiff and her colleagues are all teachers is not enough.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f_supp_3d_368.jsonl#/f-supp-3d/368/0489-01; Unicode character offsets [14531:14611] (end exclusive); SHA-256 a0a3a1f4d2d4b07c6b8cd3ebf69de3ca10eb819f9c80c558c27375c0b189b780.Accordingly, based on its de novo review, the Court adopts the R & R's recommendation that the Plaintiff's § 1981 and Title VII disparate treatment claims be dismissed.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f_supp_3d_368.jsonl#/f-supp-3d/368/0489-01; Unicode character offsets [15791:15959] (end exclusive); SHA-256 a0a3a1f4d2d4b07c6b8cd3ebf69de3ca10eb819f9c80c558c27375c0b189b780. |