Kakish v. Streetwork Project, Safe Horizon

Background

Ramzi Kakish filed this self-represented action against Streetwork Project, Safe Horizon, and Carolyn Strudwick, identified in the caption as an associate vice president. The court treated his allegations as claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the New York State and New York City Human Rights Laws. Kakish alleged sex discrimination at work.

Kakish alleged that a female coworker tried to make him perform unspecified tasks, said “that’s a man!” about him in front of clients and another coworker, and made a sexually inappropriate joke involving a sandwich and a comment that he was a “virgin.” He alleged that management knew how the coworker treated him, did not act after he complained, and that he received medical and psychiatric treatment after leaving the job on November 2, 2020. He sought a year’s salary of $41,000 and additional damages for harm to his mental health. The opinion notes that the complaint did not specify Kakish’s sex and says the court assumed, for purposes of the order, that he identified as male.

Court’s analysis

Because Kakish was allowed to proceed without paying filing fees, the court had to screen his complaint. It explained that it must dismiss a complaint that is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim, seeks money from an immune defendant, or falls outside the court’s subject-matter jurisdiction. The court also explained that self-represented pleadings are read liberally but must still provide enough facts to make a claim plausible.

The court found that Kakish did not plead enough facts for a Title VII discrimination claim. The allegation that a coworker tried to assign him unspecified tasks did not show a materially adverse change in the terms or conditions of employment. The coworker’s statement, “that’s a man,” also did not suggest that the employer discriminated against Kakish because of his sex.

The court treated the sexual-joke allegation as an attempted hostile-work-environment claim. Such a claim requires facts suggesting that the conduct was objectively severe or pervasive, that Kakish experienced the workplace as hostile or abusive, and that the conduct occurred because of his sex. The court held that one inappropriate joke by a nonsupervisory coworker did not suggest an objectively hostile or abusive work environment.

As to Carolyn Strudwick, the court explained that individuals cannot be held personally liable under Title VII. An individual may be personally liable under the New York State Human Rights Law if that person actually participated in the discriminatory conduct. The court found that Kakish alleged no facts describing how Strudwick participated in discrimination.

The court also explained that a person bringing a Title VII case generally must first file a timely discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and obtain a notice allowing the lawsuit to proceed. The court directed Kakish to include facts about whether he completed those steps if he filed an amended complaint.

Disposition

The court granted Kakish leave to file an amended complaint within 60 days. The amended complaint had to replace, rather than supplement, the original complaint and provide facts identifying what each defendant did or failed to do, when and where the events occurred, the injuries he suffered, and the relief he sought. The court warned that if Kakish did not comply within the allowed time and could not show good cause, the complaint would be dismissed for failure to state a claim.

The court ordered that no summons issue at that time. It also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied Kakish permission to proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal.