Gardner v. Honest Weight Food Cooperative, Inc.
Plaintiff Leslie Gardner sued Honest Weight Food Cooperative, Inc., William Zeitlow, Maryanne Winslow, and Michael Toye for employment discrimination based on Jewish ethnicity, religion, and gender under Title VII and 42 U.S.C. § 1981, as well as state law claims under N.Y.Exec.Law § 296 and defamation. Defendants moved to dismiss the federal claims due to the untimely filing of the Title VII complaint and argued that at-will employment could not form a contractual basis for the § 1981 claim. Defendants also sought to dismiss state law claims, including defamation. The court denied all motions to dismiss, finding a genuine issue of material fact regarding the timely receipt of the Right-To-Sue letter for the Title VII claims and deferring the § 1981 at-will employment issue pending a Second Circuit decision. The court also found the state law defamation claim sufficiently pleaded.