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Schulman v. Continental Insurance

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
May 5, 1997
239 A.D.2d 334 (N.Y. App. Div. 1997)

Opinion

May 5, 1997

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Goldstein, J.).


Ordered that the order is modified by (1) deleting therefrom the provision denying that branch of the defendants' motion which was to dismiss so much of the sixth cause of action as alleged religious discrimination and substituting therefor a provision granting that branch of the motion, and (2) deleting therefrom the provisions denying those branches of the defendants' motion which were to dismiss the remainder of the sixth cause of action and the seventh cause insofar as they are asserted against the individual defendants Reina Gregorio, Peter Noble, Roger Graham, and Alan Pritz and substituting therefor provisions granting those branches of the motion; as so modified, the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, without costs or disbursements.

While we perceive no error in the Supreme Court's failure to dismiss the plaintiff's causes of action against the defendant company sounding in intentional interference with prospective business or economic advantage (the first cause of action), conversion (the second cause of action), defamation (the third cause of action), gender discrimination (part of the sixth cause of action) and disability discrimination (seventh cause of action), the pleadings, even when viewed liberally and deemed true ( see, Leon v. Martinez, 84 N.Y.2d 83; Becker v. Schwartz, 46 N.Y.2d 401; Reliance Ins. Co. v. Morris Assocs., 200 A.D.2d 728), fail to state a cause of action based upon religious discrimination (part of the sixth cause of action) ( see, CPLR 3211[a][7]; 3013; Fisher v. Maxwell Communications Corp., 205 A.D.2d 356; Yusuf v. Vassar Coll., 35 F.3d 709). Therefore, the plaintiff's claim sounding in religious discrimination must be dismissed.

Furthermore, the sixth and seventh causes of action alleging discrimination must be dismissed insofar as they are asserted against the individual defendants Reina Gregorio, Peter Noble, Roger Graham, and Alan Pritz, since the pleadings fail to demonstrate that these defendants "have any ownership interest or any power to do more than carry out personnel decisions made by others" in the defendant company ( Patrowich v Chemical Bank, 63 N.Y.2d 541, 542).

The plaintiff's remaining contention lacks merit.

Mangano, P.J., Joy, McGinity and Luciano, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Schulman v. Continental Insurance

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
May 5, 1997
239 A.D.2d 334 (N.Y. App. Div. 1997)
Case details for

Schulman v. Continental Insurance

Case Details

Full title:JODI SCHULMAN, Respondent, v. CONTINENTAL INSURANCE et al., Appellants

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: May 5, 1997

Citations

239 A.D.2d 334 (N.Y. App. Div. 1997)
657 N.Y.S.2d 1013

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