Judge Joanna Seybert
Knight was the only black at a construction project for the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He claimed to be employed as a “special fund estimate” (SFE) employee, through which employees are purportedly paid through the New York State payroll system without qualifying them as “state employees” for civil service purposes. He was fired in October 2011 in retaliation for complaining about a racially derogatory slur that he believed was aimed at him. Knight filed claims with New York’s Division of Human Rights and the EEOC on March 26, 2012. The EEOC issued a right-to-sue letter on Oct. 26. District court dismissed—without prejudice and with leave to replead by Nov. 29, 2013—Knight’s Title VII action charging defendant with racial discrimination and retaliation, agreeing with SUNY Stony Brook that Knight insufficiently alleged himself to be its employee. Other than a single, conclusory statement that he “became employed by defendant” Knight’s complaint was devoid of any allegations pertaining to his remuneration from defendant. Further, Knight’s allegations related to the 13 factors set forth in Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid.
