22-857-cv (L) Branch v. SUNY Downstate

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT SUMMARY ORDER Rulings by summary order do not have precedential effect. Citation to a summary order filed on or after January 1, 2007, is permitted and is governed by Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32.1 and this court’s Local Rule 32.1.1. When citing a summary order in a document filed with this court, a party must cite either the Federal Appendix or an electronic database (with the notation “summary order”). A party citing a summary order must serve a copy of it on any party not represented by counsel. At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, held at the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, in the City of New York, on the 24th day of January, two thousand twenty-four.

PRESENT: Steven J. Menashi, Sarah A. L. Merriam, Circuit Judges, Stephen A. Vaden, Judge. * ____________________________________________

ROMAIN R. BRANCH,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v. No. 22-857-cv (L) No. 23-170-cv (Con) STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK DOWNSTATE MEDICAL CENTER, AYMAN FANOUS, Individually and as Chair of the Department of Psychiatry, State University of New

* Judge Stephen A. Vaden of the United States Court of International Trade, sitting by designation. York Downstate Medical Center, STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK,

Defendants-Appellees.

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For Plaintiff-Appellant: SANDRA D. PARKER, Law Office of Sandra D. Parker, New York, NY.

For Defendants-Appellees: ANDREA W. TRENTO, Assistant Solicitor General (Barbara D. Underwood, Solicitor General, and Judith N. Vale, Deputy Solicitor General, on the brief), for Letitia James, Attorney General of the State of New York, New York, NY.

Appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Torres, J.).

Upon due consideration, it is hereby ORDERED, ADJUDGED, and DECREED that the orders of the district court of July 20, 2020, and March 31, 2022, are AFFIRMED.

Plaintiff-Appellant Romain R. Branch brought claims under Title VII, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and

, as well as state-law claims under the New York State Human Rights Law (“NYSHRL”) and the New York City Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”) against his employers, Defendants-Appellees State University of New York Downstate Medical Center (“SUNY Downstate”); Ayman Fanous, the Chair of the Psychiatry Department at SUNY Downstate; and the State University of New York.

2 Branch alleged that the defendants discriminated against him on the basis of his race and national origin in several ways, including by not renewing his position as Clinical Assistant Professor and by removing him from the position of Program Director. He further alleged that the defendants retaliated against him for complaining to the Office of Diversity and Inclusion about the allegedly discriminatory treatment he received. The district court (1) granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss regarding the retaliation claim and then (2) granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment on the discrimination claims while declining to reconsider its dismissal of the retaliation claim. Branch appeals the judgment reflected in both orders.

We have considered all of Branch’s arguments, which we conclude are without merit. Substantially for the reasons stated by the district court in its orders, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

FOR THE COURT: Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk of Court

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