This column reports on several significant representative decisions handed down recently in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Raymond J. Dearie held that the New York State Board of Law Examiners was not immune from a suit brought by a disabled plaintiff under §504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis denied a motion to compel arbitration where the web-based contract did not clearly display the relevant links. And Judge Carol Bagley Amon dealt with a motion by Turing Pharmaceuticals and Martin Shkreli to dismiss claims of fraud and breach of contract brought by a former employee.

Sovereign Immunity

In T.W. v. New York State Board of Law Examiners, 16 CV 3029 (Sept. 8, 2019), Judge Dearie rejected defendant’s claim of Eleventh Amendment immunity in a case alleging discriminatory conduct under the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. §794 et seq. Because the Board is a unit of New York’s Unified Court System (UCS), which receives federal funds, the state had waived immunity.