Knight v. State Univ. of N.Y. at Stony Brook

*1  Plaintiff Anthony Knight, an African-American electrician, sued Defendant State University of New York at Stony Brook, alleging that Defendant violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when it terminated his employment after he reported racist graffiti in a bathroom located at his worksite. At trial, the*2

parties disputed whether Knight qualified as an employee for purposes of Title VII. At the close of evidence, Knight moved for judgment as a matter of law that he was Defendant’s employee. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Joanna Seybert, Judge) denied Knight’s motion and submitted the issue to the jury, which found that Knight was not an employee. On appeal, Knight argues that: (1) the district court erred in submitting the question of whether he was an employee to the jury; (2) the district court erroneously instructed the jury on how to determine whether he was an employee; (3) the evidence was insufficient to support the jury’s conclusion that he was not an employee; and (4) the district court made several other errors unrelated to the question of whether Knight was an employee.We reject these arguments and AFFIRM the judgment.PER CURIAM:Plaintiff Anthony Knight, an African-American electrician, sued Defendant State University of New York at Stony Brook (“Stony Brook”) for discrimination and retaliation, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C.