Nnebe v. City of New York
- Valerie Caproni
- 1:22-cv-03860
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Nnebe v. City of New York, Judge Caproni granted in part and denied in part one dismissal motion, granted another, and left two claim groups undismissed.
The order ended all claims against the City of New York and John Werner, dismissed many claims against the Department of Education, Reida Barry-Grant, and Lisette Olivo, and allowed Nnebe’s federal race- and age-based discrimination claims based on failure-to-supervise disciplinary charges and her New York City Human Rights Law hostile-work-environment claims against Barry-Grant and Olivo to proceed without dismissal.
What happened
In Nnebe v. City of New York, Elsie Nnebe, a tenured special education teacher proceeding without a lawyer, sued the City of New York, the New York City Department of Education, school administrators Reida Barry-Grant and Lisette Olivo, and former union representative John Werner. She alleged race, age, national-origin, discrimination, retaliation, and hostile-work-environment claims arising from disciplinary charges involving corporal punishment and failure to supervise students.
The defendants asked the court to dismiss Nnebe’s amended complaint. The court dismissed with prejudice all claims against the City and Werner, along with many other claims against the remaining defendants, and denied Nnebe’s request to amend again. The court did not dismiss her federal race- and age-based discrimination claims against the Department of Education, Barry-Grant, and Olivo based on disciplinary charges involving failure to supervise students, or her New York City Human Rights Law hostile-work-environment claims against Barry-Grant and Olivo.
Judge Valerie Caproni adopted the magistrate judge’s report and recommendation in full. She ordered that the City defendants’ motion be granted in part and denied in part, Werner’s motion be granted, and Nnebe’s request to amend be denied.
The detailed version
- Nnebe v. City of New York · No. 1:22-cv-03860
- Valerie Caproni
- Dec. 14, 2023
Background
Elsie Nnebe, a Black woman and tenured special education teacher employed by the New York City Department of Education, sued the City of New York, the Department of Education, Reida Barry-Grant, Lisette Olivo, and John Werner. Nnebe represented herself. She asserted claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the New York State Human Rights Law, and the New York City Human Rights Law. Her claims arose from disciplinary charges concerning corporal punishment and failure to supervise students.
Procedural History
The defendants moved to dismiss the original complaint. The court adopted an earlier report and recommendation, dismissed some claims with prejudice, dismissed the remaining claims without prejudice, and allowed Nnebe to amend. Nnebe filed an amended complaint, and the City defendants and Werner again moved to dismiss. Nnebe opposed the motions and alternatively asked for permission to amend again.
Magistrate Judge Cave recommended that the City defendants’ motion be granted in part and denied in part, that Werner’s motion be granted, and that Nnebe’s request to amend again be denied. Neither side objected to the recommendation. Because there were no objections, the district court reviewed the recommendation for clear error and found none.
Ruling
The court adopted the report and recommendation in full. The City defendants’ motion to dismiss was granted in part and denied in part. The court dismissed with prejudice:
- all claims against the City of New York; - all New York State Human Rights Law and New York City Human Rights Law claims against the Department of Education; - Title VII and Age Discrimination in Employment Act claims accruing before August 9, 2019, and § 1983, New York State Human Rights Law, and New York City Human Rights Law claims accruing before May 11, 2019; - all national-origin discrimination claims against all defendants; - all discrimination claims based on the 2019 reassignment and on disciplinary charges involving corporal punishment; - all retaliation claims; - all hostile-work-environment claims except the New York City Human Rights Law claims against Barry-Grant and Olivo; and - § 1983 claims against the Department of Education.
The court denied dismissal of Nnebe’s federal race- and age-based discrimination claims against the Department of Education, Barry-Grant, and Olivo, but only to the extent those claims were based on disciplinary charges involving Nnebe’s failure to supervise students. The court also denied dismissal of Nnebe’s hostile-work-environment claims against Barry-Grant and Olivo under the New York City Human Rights Law.
Werner’s motion to dismiss was granted, and all claims against him were dismissed with prejudice. Nnebe’s request for permission to amend her complaint again was denied. The clerk was directed to terminate the City and Werner as defendants and close the two pending motions.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.