Judges: Carni, Centra, Curran, Dejoseph, Scudder
Filed Date: 4/29/2016
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 11/1/2024
It is hereby ordered that the determination is unanimously confirmed without costs and the petition is dismissed.
Memorandum: Petitioner commenced this proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 and Executive Law § 298 seeking to annul the determination of respondent New York State Division of Human Rights (SDHR), after a hearing, dismissing her complaint alleging unlawful discrimination and a hostile work environment. Petitioner is a correction officer with respondent New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS). We conclude that SDHR’s determination is supported by substantial evidence and thus must be confirmed (see generally Matter of State Div. of Human Rights [Granelle], 70 NY2d 100, 106 [1987]). “To establish a prima facie case of employment discrimination, petitioner was required to demonstrate that she was a member of a protected class, that she was qualified for her position, that she was terminated from employment or suffered another adverse employment action, and that the termination or other adverse action ‘occurred under circumstances giving rise to an inference of discriminatory motive’ ” (Matter of Lyons v New York State Div. of Human Rights, 79 AD3d 1826, 1827 [2010], lv denied 17 NY3d 707 [2011], quoting Forrest v Jewish Guild for the Blind, 3 NY3d 295, 306 [2004]). Here, SDHR’s determination that petitioner was not subjected to adverse employment action is supported by substantial evidence. Any change in petitioner’s assigned posts at the workplace did not constitute “a materially adverse change in the terms and conditions of employment” (Forrest, 3 NY3d at 306; see Ponterio v Kaye, 25 AD3d 865, 869 [2006], lv denied 6 NY3d 714 [2006]). With respect to the formal counseling that petitioner received with regard to an incident, petitioner admitted that it did not constitute a form of discipline. In any event, petitioner failed to demonstrate that any allegedly adverse employment actions “occurred under circumstances giving rise to an inference of discrimination” (Forrest, 3 NY3d at 308; see Matter of Jackson v Buffalo Mun. Hous. Auth., 81 AD3d 1271, 1272 [2011]).