Civil Rights and Personal Injury and General Practice Law Firm, Dedicated to Social Justice
The Law Offices of Frederick K. Brewington is a well-respected litigation firm with an office in Hempstead, Long Island. Our focus is primarily in the area of civil rights, voting rights, employment discrimination, police misconduct, personal injury, medical malpractice, wrongful death and criminal law. However, the Law Offices of Frederick K. Brewington is a full- service law firm handling matters in numerous areas of law and providing a wide range of services from contract formation to litigation and trial practice.
Court Grants Summary Judgment in Favor of Local Fast Food Owner Accused of Gender Discrimination
The United States District Court, Eastern District of New York, recently granted a summary judgment in favor of the defendants—a corporate fast food franchise owner and operator and the corporation’s local owner—dismissing a Title VII claim that it engaged in gender discrimination. Fred Brewington of the Law Offices of Frederick K. Brewington represented the defendant in this case.
For one week in 2012, the plaintiff, a female employee, alleged that while working at a local fast food retailer in New York, her boss engaged in a pattern of sexual harassment and hostile behavior, causing her to report him to the police and resign from her position. The defendant store owner denied the allegations, countering that not only were the accusations false, but that the plaintiff had attempted to extort money from him.
A lawsuit was filed by the plaintiff on June 25, 2013 and a motion to dismiss was filed by the defendants on May 23, 2014. In the motion, the defendant sought dismissal on the grounds that the franchise owner is not an employer because the restaurant does not employ more than 15 people in one day and is therefore not subject to liability under Title VII.
On January 8, 2015, the court notified both parties that it was converting the defendants’ motion to dismiss into a motion for summary judgment. In support of the motion, the defendants submitted an affidavit stating he never employed more than 15 people at one time and quarterly federal and state tax returns for 2012 and 2013 supporting the statement. The plaintiff argued that the defendant showed no proof that it employed fewer than 15 employees during 2011, but the court stated that the “burden of proof” lay with her and granted the defendants motion for summary judgment, dismissing the plaintiffs’ Title VII claim on March 13, 2015, citing lack of evidence.
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