On October 23, 2006, Outten & Golden filed a class action gender discrimination lawsuit in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York against Gristede’s supermarket, its affiliates. The Plaintiffs amended their complaint on January 19, 2010 to add Gristede’s owner, John Catsimatidis, as a named Defendant and additional claims of interference with the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) restoration rights and pregnancy discrimination. The named plaintiffs- Susan Duling, Margaret Anderson, and Lakeya Sewer – alleged violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the New York State Human Rights Law, and the New York City Human Rights Law. All three women worked as part-time cashiers at Gristedes in Manhattan.
Plaintiffs alleged that Gristedes steered female job applicants into cashier and bookkeeper positions, while it steered male applicants into clerk positions. The Complaint alleged that Gristede’s offered the male clerks more opportunities for extra hours, full-time work, and promotion to management than it offered to female cashiers and bookkeepers.
The Court certified the class on March 8, 2010 which included current and former female employees of Gristede’s. The parties entered into a settlement agreement which is currently pending Court approval, on behalf of all current and former female employees of Gristede’s from November 2004 through the date the Court grants preliminary approval of the settlement.
The case is “Duling v. Gristede’s Operating Corp.” (No. 06 CV 10197) (LTS)(HBP) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Please email Adam T. Klein or call (212) 207-0043 for more information.
(*Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.)
