John Doe,1, Plaintiff v. M&T Bank Corporation, et al., Defendants
ORDER The pseudonymous pro se plaintiff, John Doe, has filed a complaint asserting claims of racial discrimination under 42 U.S.C. §1981 and the New York State Human Rights Law against M&T Bank Corporation (“M&T”), Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company, and several M&T employees. Docket Item 1. He also brings various state law tort claims and a claim for breach of contract. Id. Doe has moved to proceed in forma pauperis (that is, as a person who should have the prepayment of the ordinary filing fee waived because he cannot afford it) and has filed the required affidavit. Docket Item 2. He also has moved to proceed under a pseudonym. Docket Item 3. Because Doe meets the statutory requirements to proceed in forma pauperis under 28 U.S.C. §1915(e)(2), that motion is granted. Moreover, Doe’s complaint presents “colorable claim[s]” and therefore survives screening under 28 U.S.C. §1915(e)(2). See Benitez v. Wolff, 907 F.2d 1293, 1295 (2d Cir. 1990) (“ Sua sponte dismissal of a pro se complaint prior to service of process is a draconian device which is warranted only when the complaint lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact [or is] frivolous on its face or wholly insubstantial.” (citations omitted)); see also Pino v. Ryan, 49 F.3d 51, 53 (2d Cir. 1995) (explaining that dismissal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 12(b)(6) still may be appropriate notwithstanding a court’s earlier finding that the complaint was not “frivolous” for purposes of section 1915(e)(2)). For the reasons that follow, however, Doe’s motion to proceed under a pseudonym is denied. BACKGROUND2 Doe was employed by M&T from July 2017 to June 2018. Docket Item 1 at 10. He alleges that during his time as an M&T employee, he was the only African American man on his floor and was subjected to “harassment and degrading, racially-animated discrimination and verbal abuse.” Id. at 7. The severity of the harassment and discrimination, he says, took its toll on his mental and physical health — so much so that he met with a mental health counselor, sought treatment from a psychiatrist, and was prescribed anxiolytic medication. Id. at
