Augustin v. Yale Club of New York City
Augustin v. Yale Club of New York City
Opinion of the Court
SUMMARY ORDER
The plaintiff Nirva Augustin appeals from the judgment entered September 19, 2006, 2006 WL 2690289, granting the defendant Yale Club’s motion for summary judgment. We assume the parties’ familiarity with the facts, procedural history and specification of issues on appeal.
“We review a district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo.” NextG Networks of N. Y., Inc. v. City of New York, 513 F.3d 49, 52 (2d Cir. 2008). In so doing, we construe the record in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, accepting that party’s evidence as true and drawing all reasonable inferences in that party’s favor. Gilles v. Repicky, 511 F.3d 239, 243 (2d Cir. 2007). “We will affirm a grant of summary judgment where there is no genuine issue as to any material fact, and where the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Id. “Summary judgment is not appropriate where a review of the record reveals sufficient evidence for a rational trier of fact to find in the plaintiffs favor.” Treglia v. Town of Manlius, 313 F.3d 713, 719 (2d Cir. 2002). But “reliance upon conclusory statements or mere allegations is not sufficient to defeat a summary judgment motion.” Davis v. New York, 316 F.3d 93, 100 (2d Cir. 2002).
Augustin, a former waitress at the Yale Club, alleges that she was subjected to a hostile work environment. “A hostile work environment claim requires a showing (1) that the harassment was sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of the victim’s employment and create an abusive working environment, and (2) that a specific basis exists for imputing the objectionable conduct to the employer.” Alfano v. Costello, 294 F.3d 365, 373 (2d Cir. 2002) (internal quotation marks omitted). The plaintiff must demonstrate that, under the totality of the circumstances, “the workplace was so severely permeated with discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, and insult that the terms and conditions of her employment were thereby altered.” Id. Moreover, generally the “incidents must be more than ‘episodic; they must be sufficiently continuous and concerted in order to be deemed pervasive.’ ” Id. at 374 (quoting Perry v. Ethan Allen, Inc., 115 F.3d 143, 149 (2d Cir. 1997)). In this case, the allegedly discriminatory and mostly uncorroborated events were infrequent and sporadic, occurring a few times over Augustin’s five-year employment at the Club. The worst of the allegations against the Club involve episodes of name-calling, inappropriate behavior by a supervisor, and other perceived slights, which, however regrettable, do not constitute a hostile work environment even if taken as true. Cf. Schiano v. Quality Payroll Sys., Inc., 445 F.3d 597, 607-08 (2d Cir. 2006) (reversing district court grant of summary judgment when officer of defendant repeatedly touched plaintiff inappropriately and propositioned her for sex).
We have considered all of Augustin’s other arguments and find them to be without merit. Accordingly, for the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court is hereby AFFIRMED.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Nirva AUGUSTIN v. The YALE CLUB OF NEW YORK CITY
- Cited By
- 13 cases
- Status
- Published