Magistrate Judge Lois Bloom
Dawson alleged that two former supervisors at Pelican Management Inc. subjected her to a hostile work environment and that Pelican retaliated against her for complaining about it. Dawson sought to add her former supervisors as defendants and to add claims under the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) against Pelican and her former supervisors for gender bias, disability discrimination, and retaliation. Pelican argued that Dawson’s proposed claims under the NYCHRL were barred by the election of remedies doctrine, as her bias charge was already dismissed by the New York State Division of Human Rights (DHR) in 2009. The court found that the election of remedies provision under the NYCHRL precluded Dawson from asserting claims against Pelican for a hostile work environment based on one supervisor’s alleged conduct, as the facts underlying those claims were first alleged at the DHR. The court, however, held that Dawson’s hostile workplace claim under the NYCHRL based on her other supervisor’s alleged conduct seems to be based on conduct that was different than what she alleged at the DHR and therefore would not be barred by the election of remedies provision.
