Disputed allegations that a plaintiff’s co-worker used sexually explicit language, pulled her hair, snapped her bra strap and rubbed lubricant on her arm were not enough to sustain a hostile work environment claim, an Albany appeals court said.
Accepting Karen Minckler’s claims to be true, the Appellate Division, Third Department, said the “record clearly establishes that the workplace was one in which the banter was occasionally uncivil and crude. Under the totality of the circumstances, however, we are unable to conclude that the conduct, while offensive, either permeated the workplace or was so ‘severe and pervasive’ as to constitute a hostile work environment under the Human Rights Law.”
