03.30.07
District Court Reaffirms Federal and New York Law Governing Individual Liability in Race Discrimination Cases
Justin B. Incardone
The Eastern District of New York recently affirmed the legal principles governing individual liability under federal and New York law in race discrimination cases.
In Richards v. City of New York, No. 05 CV 1163 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 30, 2007), Ricardo Richards brought suit against the city of New York and more than 20 employees of its police department, alleging racial discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII and the New York State and City Human Rights Laws.
The court dismissed the Title VII claims against the individual defendants because federal law does not allow for race discrimination claims against individual employees; only the employeer can be held liable for discrimination. As to the New York state and city anti-discrimination statutes, the court noted that those laws permit a plaintiff to sue an individual employee for race discrimination; however, such a claim requires a showing that the individual defendant ″actually participated″ in the discriminatory conduct, a standard Richards could not prove with respect to nine defendants.
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