Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani New York Partner Mark Beckman, former associate Kimberly Gelfand, and associate Tom Bellifemine obtained a full dismissal from the Honorable Ronnie Abrams of the Southern District of New York, granting the motion and dismissing all claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, etc. against the firm's client, a construction subcontractor.
In granting the motion, Judge Abrams agreed that the firm's client was neither plaintiff’s actual employer nor a joint employer. In rejecting plaintiff’s “joint-employer” theory, Judge Abrams concluded that plaintiff’s allegations suggested only “the minimal level of oversight that any contractor would naturally exercise over laborers working on the contractor’s worksite” and that plaintiff’s allegations did not amount to the level of “immediate control” necessary to sustain a finding of joint-employer status.