New York State Senate Employee's Race Discrimination Claim Moves Forward
A former New York State Senate photographer, Joseph Maioriello, who is Caucasian, has prevailed in a Motion for Summary Judgment in his race discrimination suit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The photographer claimed that he was terminated by then Minority Leader David Paterson due to his race and replaced by an African-American employee.
The photographer claimed that he had performed capably in the State Legislature for 26 years and claims that he was fired because some of the legislators that worked with him wanted a minority employee in his position. The defendants claim that his termination was a function of both poor performance and that he was a holdover from a past political leader and there would be questions of loyalty to the new Senate leadership.
A Motion for Summary Judgment is a dispositive motion. Defendants will make this type of motion and argue that there are no issues of fact for a jury to resolve and on those grounds, the case should be dismissed. The plaintiff, in these cases, must raise issues of fact and demonstrate that the issues of the case are best resolved by the court allowing them to make their case to a jury and having them decide. The jury would then determine if there was, in fact, discrimination in the employment decision or whether the non-discriminatory reasons offered by the employer are believable.
In this case, Judge Mordue of the Federal District Court of the Northern District of New York found there to be triable issues of fact in this case and it would be best for a jury to hear the cases presented by both sides and then make a determination at that point.
