Greek restaurant in Bay Ridge agrees to pay $2,000 in settlement

NYC Human Rights Commission settles cases worth over $262,500 in June

July 24, 2020 Rob Abruzzese

Somethingreek, located on Third Avenue in Bay Ridge, had to pay out $2,000 in a settlement to the NYC Human Rights Commission because it wouldn’t serve a patron who brought in a service dog. Screenshot via Google

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A Greek restaurant on Third Avenue in Bay Ridge was fined $2,000 in emotional distress damages last month. It was just one of 12 settlements that the NYC Human Rights Commission settled in June.

Somethingreek had to pay out $2,000 in damages after a customer was tossed out of the restaurant because of her service dog. After filing a complaint, the commission investigated and entered into a conciliation agreement that required the restaurant to pay. It also had employees attend a NYC Human Rights Law training session, create and implement an anti-discrimination policy and post a “Service Animals Welcome” sign.

The largest settlement for June involved Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, which paid out $100,000 in damages and penalties for failing to engage in a cooperative dialogue with an employee who made a reasonable accommodation request that would have allowed her to continue working.

After an investigation, the commission found that MSKCC violated the Human Rights Law and paid out $65,000 to its employee and $35,000 in civil penalties to NYC.

HSBC Bank had to pay out $99,500 in damages in penalties in a race discrimination and retaliation case after an employee, a white man married to a Black woman, was fired after he filed a complaint about a co-worker’s racist comments about Black people.

The complainant was classified as an independent contractor and was paid $59,500 in full back pay and $10,000 in damages. HSBC also paid $30,000 in civil penalties to NYC, updated their discrimination policies, posted the Commission’s Notice of Rights, Stop Sexual Harassment Act notice and Pregnancy Discrimination notice. It also trained its employees in supervisory and managerial positions with hiring responsibilities under the NYC Human Rights Law.

A tenant sued her landlord for not accepting a Section 8 voucher after she had become eligible for the voucher during her tenancy. After issuing a probable cause finding, the commission ruled that the landlord had to pay $15,000 in emotional distress damages and waive more than $14,000 in rent arrears and other fees.

The YMCA of Greater New York didn’t pay out, but was forced to redesign its health care plans to include comprehensive coverage of transition-related procedures after an investigation revealed that the organization’s self-insured health care plans excluded gender-affirming care, which possibly discriminated against transgender and gender non-conforming employees. The redesign was implemented across the YMCA of the USA nationally.