Petrosky v. New York State Dept. of Motor Vehicles, 96-CV-0902 DRH.
| Citation | 72 F.Supp.2d 39 |
| Decision Date | 15 November 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. 96-CV-0902 DRH.,96-CV-0902 DRH. |
| Parties | Sherry PETROSKY, Plaintiff, v. NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES; William Achcet; Kenneth "Skip" Dwyer; Melvyn Milner; Dwight Schwabrow; David Harris; and George Hass, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of New York |
Sheila Hilley, Albany, New York, for plaintiff.
Sue H.R. Adler, Albany, New York, for plaintiff.
Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General for the State of New York, Department of Law, Albany, New York (David B. Roberts, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel), for defendants.
Plaintiff Sherry Petrosky ("Petrosky") was formerly an employee of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles ("DMV"). She brings this action against that agency as well as individual defendants William Achcet, Kenneth Dwyer, Melvyn Milner, Dwight Schwabrow, David Harris and George Hass1 who served either as supervisors or co-workers of Petrosky at DMV. Her amended complaint (Docket No. 29)2 asserts seven separate causes of action for discrimination as follows:
Cause
of Action Legal Authority Description
1 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of Sex discrimination
1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. ("Title
VII")
2 Title VII Retaliation
3 Americans With Disabilities Act, 42 Disability discrimination
U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. ("ADA")
4 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Equal Protection Sex and disability discrimination
Clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment
5 New York Human rights Law, Sex discrimination
N.Y.Exec.Law § 296 et seq. ("HRL")
6 HRL Retaliation
7 HRL Disability discrimination
Petrosky seeks compensatory and punitive damages.
Defendants' have now moved pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56 for summary judgment. Docket No. 46. Petrosky opposes the motion. Docket Nos. 50-52. For the reasons which follow, defendants' motion is granted in part and denied in part.
On a motion for summary judgment, a court must view the facts in the light most favorable to the non-movant. Joyce v. Curtiss-Wright Corp., 171 F.3d 130, 133 (2d Cir.1999). For purposes of the instant motion then, the facts alleged by Petrosky are accepted as true.
Petrosky began work for DMV in August 1981 as a Motor Vehicle Investigator with DMV's Office of Field Investigation ("OFI"). Petrosky Aff. (Docket No. 50), ¶¶ 2 & 5. She was initially assigned to OFI's Albany office. Id. at ¶ 5. Her work as an investigator included "investigating license, registration and insurance fraud and odometer rollbacks and doing examinations of motor vehicles." Id. In the winter of 1986, Petrosky was reassigned to DMV's central office in Albany. Id. at ¶ 36. She remained there until the fall of 1987 when she returned to the OFI garage. Id. Her work as an investigator continued until May 18, 1994 when she took sick leave. Id. at ¶ 90. Petrosky's employment was terminated by DMV effective June 14, 1995. Id. at ¶ 100.
The OFI office in Albany included an open area for vehicle inspections, an individual office for the supervisor and an office which was shared by the investigators, each of whom had their own desk. The office had a bulletin board and was adjacent to bathrooms jointly shared by all investigators, male and female. Petrosky Aff., ¶ 6. When she began her employment, Petrosky was told that her coworkers, all of whom were male, used foul language which she would have to tolerate. Id. at ¶ 9. The record reflects that coarse and vulgar language was a regular part of Albany's OFI garage. Much of the language used was sexually explicit. Id. at ¶ 15. Petrosky recites at length the use of "vulgar, lewd and offensive language" (id.) to discuss women (id. at ¶ 21), sex (Milner Dep. (Docket No. 52), p. 159) and her body parts (Petrosky Aff., ¶ 16).3 On other occasions, though the language of her co-workers was not directed at her, Petrosky nonetheless heard it as a result of the small confines in which the investigators worked. Petrosky Aff., ¶ 15.
As noted, employees at Albany's garage shared a unisex bathroom. The lock on the door was broken. Id. at ¶ 17. Petrosky's co-workers told her she could leave the door open when she used the bathroom and assured her that no one would bother her. Id. She was also told that she could use the shower and that her fellow investigators would come in and soap her up. Id. There was a pinup of a naked woman in the bathroom "all the years" Petrosky worked in Albany and magazines with pictures of nude woman were in the bathroom as well. Id. Such magazines were also found regularly in the investigators' office. Id. at ¶ 18. Posters of nude or scantily clad women were located in the lockers of Petrosky's fellow investigators. Id. The lockers were frequently left open with the pictures readily in view. Id. Greeting cards containing sexually suggestive or explicit messages were often placed on Petrosky's desk or posted on the office bulletin board. Id. at ¶ 19 & Ex. A. On one occasion, a Polaroid picture was taken of Petrosky while she was underneath a car conducting an inspection. The picture, which showed only the lower half of her body, was placed on the bulletin board with the caption "OK guys I'm ready" written below it. Id. at ¶ 33 & Ex. C.
Petrosky complains of other allegedly discriminatory conduct aimed at her solely because of her gender. For example, more than once cars in which she was seated while performing inspections were raised on hydraulic lifts and she was left in the air for extended periods of time. Id. at ¶ 24. On another occasion, Petrosky's state issued vehicle was hidden from her by OFI investigators. When she discovered her car missing, Petrosky became upset and was warned by the investigators that having her car "stolen" like that could result in her termination. Id. at ¶ 26. Once when Petrosky returned to her office, she found her desk ringed with police tape and a dummy, dressed in her uniform, "stabbed" in the back with a letter opener. Id. at ¶ 27. This incident occurred at night and when Petrosky first saw the dummy, she started screaming, only to have another investigator call her on the telephone, say "Gotcha" and indicate that it had been a prank. Id. at ¶ 28.
In October 1994, Petrosky remained on sick leave but was called into work by Milner for the purpose of cleaning out her personal belongings. Id. at ¶ 92.4 While she was there, Milner asked Petrosky where her handcuffs were. When she could not find them, Milner stated, Id. at ¶ 94. Milner then pulled Petrosky's handcuffs out of his desk. Id.
In July 1987, Petrosky was diagnosed with Type II diabetes mellitus or brittle diabetes. Petrosky Aff., ¶ 39. Her doctor informed her that this type of diabetes usually appears in older individuals but that it may be induced earlier by stress. Id. She is treated with insulin but also is required to eat at regular intervals and take periodic breaks to manage her condition properly. Id. at ¶ 40. During her employment, Petrosky made four requests for reduced work hours. Id. at ¶ 41. The requests were made to permit her to take the structured breaks she needed and to avoid overtime work which would alter her schedule. Id. According to Petrosky, from September 17 through November 12, 1987, her work hours were reduced by thirty percent. From November 12, 1987 through April 1, 1988, her hours were reduced twenty percent and she was not required to undertake overnight travel. She was assigned light duty from January 22 through April 1, 1990. However, on May 6, 1993, her hours were reduced twenty percent and Petrosky was excused from overnight travel. Id.
Despite the reduced work hours, Petrosky actually faced a heavier workload following her diabetes diagnosis. Id. at ¶¶ 42, 58 & 70. The added workload was the result of increased paperwork assignments and additional training duties. Id. at ¶¶ 43-44 & 70-71. At times the increased workload was such that Petrosky was unable to take any breaks or eat lunch. Id. at ¶ 71. Petrosky was also the subject of derogatory comments and complaints from co-workers who contended that they were required to do more work because of Petrosky's illness. See, e.g., id. at ¶¶ 43 & 52.
In March 1993, when Petrosky requested reduced hours, two of her supervisors, Achcet and Dwyer, complained about her request. Id. at ¶ 58. After that request, Petrosky was offered a clerical position at DMV's central office. Id. at ¶ 60. The job offer was made in a threatening manner. In particular, the suggestion was made that her diabetes raised questions about her ability to drive a state vehicle and that defendants would be in a better position to "watch" Petrosky at the central office. Id. at ¶ 61.
In 1992, the job description for OFI investigators changed to require firearms training. Id. at ¶ 78. While current investigators, such as Petrosky, were covered by a "grandfather" clause that did not require them to qualify with a weapon, id., Petrosky sought to receive the training because she believed it would be necessary for any promotion. Id. at ¶ 79. Harris was then the range officer and when Petrosky spoke with him about the training, he refused to permit her to use the range and indicated that he would not aid her to be trained elsewhere. Id. at ¶ 80.
In September 1994, Petrosky was offered a Senior...
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