New York Sexual Harassment Lawyer Blog

A recent Sports Illustrated article noted that a former female employee has filed a $225 million lawsuit against NASCAR in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, citing sexual harassment, race discrimination and wrongful termination.

Mauricia Grant, a former Nationwide Series Technical Inspector, alleges atrocious behavior from her co-workers, such as calling her "Queen Sheba" and "Molicious," making repeated references to the Ku Klux Klan and, in one instance, two male employees exposed themselves to her. NASCAR has suspended the two accused employees without explanation.

The plaintiff called NASCAR an “old boys club” and went to great lengths in describing the insular nature of the company. “They need to stop hiring ignorant sisters, cousins and uncles [of theirs] and start hiring qualified, educated people to work their billion-dollar business,” Ms. Grant said in an interview.

NASCAR has responded, saying that the plaintiff never filed a complaint, and therefore could not blame NASCAR for not being able to stop the behavior. The CEO of NASCAR said that he had not been aware of the situation and that the claims would be immediately investigated.

A recent New York Law Journal article reported that a Federal judge has thrown out a pro se libel action against a New York Judge of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. This is the second such dismissal for the plaintiff who claims she was fired unjustly, citing sexual harassment and workplace retaliation.

In both cases, the plaintiff appealed her alleged unfair termination, claiming that the judges defamed her in their statements, thereby damaging her reputation. The presiding Federal judge threw both cases out, calling the recent libel action “frivolous.”

A whistleblower case involving the firing of a Catholic school’s principal is set to appear before the Florida Supreme Court, according to a recent Daily Business Review article. The case, previously tossed out of the 3rd District Court of Appeals, pits a plaintiff who claims she was wrongly forced out of her job as a principal at a Catholic school in Miami after complaining that her supervisor assaulted her against the Archdiocese of Miami.

The two sides differ on their interpretation of the Church’s domain. The plaintiff believes that she was fired for a purely secular reason; the archdiocese believes the case lies within the Church’s jurisdiction and therefore is not subject to the court's ruling.