MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER I. INTRODUCTION On March 24, 2020, Plaintiff, Mario Zaja, initiated this suit against SUNY Upstate Medical University/Upstate Healthcare Center. See Dkt. No. 1. Plaintiff asserts claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §2000e et seq., alleging a hostile work environment, gender and sex discrimination, and retaliation. See id. at
68-87. Currently before the Court is Defendant’s motion for summary judgment. See Dkt. No. 32. For the following reasons, Defendant’s motion is granted in part and denied in part. II. BACKGROUND Defendant SUNY Upstate Medical University/Upstate Healthcare Center is a general hospital located in Syracuse, New York. Dkt. No. 35-1 at 1. Defendant contracts with Cynet Systems, Inc., to provide temporary staffing. Id. at 12. Cynet recommended Plaintiff to fill an open phlebotomist position with Defendant. Id. at 19.1 On or about September 4, 2018, Plaintiff began working for Defendant. Id. at 24. Pursuant to his employment contract, Plaintiff’s placement was scheduled to end on December 30, 2018. Id. at 25. Plaintiff contends that Defendant told him that the position was for a longer term and that the contract “gets automatically renewed.” Dkt. No. 35-3 at 17. At some point before his placement ended, Plaintiff’s placement was extended from December 30, 2018, to January 31, 2019. Dkt. No. 35-1 at 26. On December 13, 2018, Plaintiff filed an internal complaint to Defendant’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion alleging sexual harassment. Id. at 60. Plaintiff alleged that two female staff members, Schelitta Sewell and Demetria Huddleston, were sexually harassing him. Id. at 61. Plaintiff claimed that they were “rubbing on [him].” Id. Plaintiff later stated that they “brushed up against him,…rubbed one or both…[of] their breasts against him,…[and] rubbed their hands against his buttocks.” Id. at 62. Upon receipt of Plaintiff’s complaint, Defendant initiated an investigation. Id. at 68. Lewis E. Rosenthal interviewed Plaintiff on December 17, 2018. Id. at 69. Throughout the month of January, Mr. Rosenthal also interviewed Ms. Sewell, Ms. Huddleston, six potential witnesses that worked in the phlebotomy laboratory, a potential witness in the adjoining unit, and Plaintiff’s off-site supervisor. Id. at 80; Dkt. No. 32-4 at 114. In addition to Ms. Sewell and Ms. Huddleston, the other eight individuals that were interviewed did not corroborate Plaintiff’s claims. Id. at
