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 Frederic Block rejected retaliation and hostile work environment claims by two nursing professors at Medgar Evers College. Judge Arthur D. Spatt granted plaintiff’s Rule 59 motion for a new trial in a §1983 action against Suffolk County. Judge Joanna Seybert affirmed a bankruptcy court order enjoining a contempt action against non-debtor third parties. And Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis held that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services may not bar an otherwise proper status adjustment application solely because the applicant neglected to sign the check she had submitted for the filing fee.
Retaliation Claims
In Isenalumhe v. McDuffie, 06-CV-1076 (EDNY, March 17, 2010), Judge Block granted summary judgment to a professor and administrator from the City University of New York (CUNY) charged with retaliating against two professors for speech assertedly protected by the First Amendment.
