A lesbian employee of the New York City Transit Authority may add sexual orientation discrimination claims that would have been otherwise time-barred to her lawsuit because they “relate back” to her original claims of gender discrimination, a Manhattan appeals court has ruled.
In a 3-2 decision, a majority panel of the Appellate Division, First Department, decided that “all of plaintiff’s claims are based on the same occurrences—namely the underlying employment actions taken against her—and the original complaint put defendants on notice of those occurrences.” Therefore, her sexual-orientation claims “relate back” to the original complaint, pursuant to CPLR 203(f).
