Baluch v. 300 West 22 Realty, LLC

Background

Ejaz Baluch sued 300 West 22 Realty, LLC, 317 West 14 Realty, LLC, and 147 First Realty, LLC, collectively doing business as Icon Realty Management, LLC, along with Terrence Lowenberg. Baluch alleged disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL), and the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL). He also alleged retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the NYSHRL, and the NYCHRL, based on his opposition to national-origin discrimination. Against Lowenberg, he additionally alleged aiding and abetting discrimination and retaliation under the NYSHRL and NYCHRL.

According to the complaint, Baluch began working for Icon as a general manager in 2012 and managed three hotels. He alleged that he had hypertension, anxiety, and hypothyroidism. In May 2019, he filed an earlier lawsuit alleging national-origin discrimination and retaliation. In March 2020, after Baluch gave Icon a doctor’s note stating that he needed to quarantine for fourteen days because of possible COVID-19 exposure, Icon fired him, citing COVID-19’s impact. Baluch alleged that a white woman who had not previously complained of discrimination replaced him. The earlier lawsuit was later resolved through a Rule 68 offer of judgment for $250,000.

Res Judicata

The defendants argued that the earlier lawsuit barred Baluch’s current claims under res judicata, a rule that can prevent a party from bringing a later case based on claims that were already decided or should have been brought earlier. The court rejected that argument as to claims based on Baluch’s termination. The earlier lawsuit was filed before the termination occurred. Although Baluch could have sought permission to add claims about the termination to that case, he was not required to do so. The termination also was a new event that was not part of the same transaction for res judicata purposes.

Disability-Discrimination Claims

The court dismissed Baluch’s ADA discrimination claim. It held that he did not plausibly allege that Icon or Lowenberg knew about his medical conditions. Although Baluch alleged that he gave the defendants a doctor’s note, the note addressed COVID-19 exposure and quarantine and did not identify his alleged medical conditions. The court also held that Baluch did not allege how his conditions substantially limited any major life activity, as required for an ADA disability claim. The court therefore dismissed the ADA disability-discrimination claim.

The court also dismissed Baluch’s disability-discrimination claims under the NYSHRL and NYCHRL. Those statutes use broader definitions of disability than the ADA, but Baluch still had to plausibly allege that the defendants treated him less well because of a disability. The court found that he had not plausibly alleged that Icon or Lowenberg knew he had a disability.

Retaliation Claims

The court denied the motion to dismiss Baluch’s Title VII retaliation claim. Baluch alleged that he had engaged in protected activity by filing and pursuing his earlier discrimination lawsuit, that he was later fired, and that the defendants’ stated COVID-19 reason could have been a pretext. The court noted that Baluch filed an amended complaint in the earlier lawsuit only days before his termination, that one of the hotels he managed remained in operation, and that his position was filled rather than eliminated. Taken together, these allegations plausibly supported retaliation at the motion-to-dismiss stage.

Because the complaint was sufficient to state a Title VII retaliation claim, the court also denied the motion to dismiss Baluch’s NYSHRL and NYCHRL retaliation claims.

Aiding-and-Abetting Claims

The court dismissed Baluch’s NYSHRL and NYCHRL claims against Lowenberg for aiding and abetting discrimination and retaliation. Such claims require allegations that the individual defendant actually participated in the conduct underlying the discrimination or retaliation claim. Baluch alleged that Lowenberg owned Icon and supervised him, but he did not allege that Lowenberg participated in the decision to fire him or even identify who made or communicated that decision.

Disposition

The court held that the defendants’ motion to dismiss was GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. It dismissed Baluch’s ADA, NYSHRL, and NYCHRL disability-discrimination claims; denied dismissal of his Title VII, NYSHRL, and NYCHRL retaliation claims; and dismissed his NYSHRL and NYCHRL aiding-and-abetting claims against Lowenberg. The clerk was directed to terminate Lowenberg as a party, and Icon was ordered to answer the surviving claims within 21 days after the opinion and order.