Ben-Levy v. Bloomberg, L.P., 518 F. App'x 17

Ben-Levy's age-related claims against Bloomberg and associates under ADEA, ADA, NYSHRL, and NYCHRL were dismissed at summary judgment.
Plaintiff alleged discrimination, retaliation, and hostile work environment arising from two division-wide reorganizations and supervision concerns.
Defendants argued legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for demotions, compensation reductions, and negative reviews; no pretext evidence presented.
Plaintiff's internal discrimination/retaliation complaint in Feb 2010 preceded his removal from a key project by two days, but this timing alone is insufficient for pretext.
NYCHRL claims reviewed independently but still require evidence of discrimination; district court's rulings on federal/state claims influenced city-law outcome.
Court affirmed district court's grant of summary judgment to Bloomberg on all claims.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether plaintiff proved a prima facie case of discrimination	Ben-Levy: protected class, qualified, adverse action, inference of discrimination	Bloomberg: actions based on performance and organizational changes; no discriminatory motive	No genuine issue of material fact; no pretext shown
Whether there is proof of retaliation	Ben-Levy's internal complaint preceded adverse actions; evidence of retaliation	Bloomberg's decisions motivated by business reasons, not retaliation	No evidence precluding legitimate non-retaliatory reasons
Whether hostile work environment claim is viable	Workplace contaminated by discriminatory intimidation	No comments or conduct showing age, medical condition, or leave discrimination	No reasonable jury could find a hostile environment

Burdine v. Texas Dept. of Community Affairs, 450 U.S. 248 (1981) (prima facie case and burden-shifting framework)
McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973) (prima facie case and pretext framework)
Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317 (1986) (summary judgment standard; absence of genuine issue)
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242 (1986) (material facts in dispute preclude summary judgment)
Weinstock v. Columbia Univ., 224 F.3d 33 (2d Cir. 2000) (ADA/NYSHRL prima facie and pretext considerations)
Gorzynski v. JetBlue Airways Corp., 596 F.3d 93 (2d Cir. 2010) (ADEA pretext framework)
Loeffler v. Staten Island Univ. Hosp., 582 F.3d 268 (2d Cir. 2009) (NYCHRL liberal standard with discrimination evidence)
RECAP v. City of Middletown, 294 F.3d 35 (2d Cir. 2002) (ADA discrimination framework)
Byrnie v. Town of Cromwell, Bd. of Educ., 243 F.3d 93 (2d Cir. 2001) (reasonableness of employer evaluations)
El Sayed v. Hilton Hotels Corp., 627 F.3d 931 (2d Cir. 2010) (temporal proximity and pretext)
Lu v. Chase Inv. Servs. Corp., 412 F. App’x 413 (2d Cir. 2011) (pretext and discrimination evaluation)
Lovejoy-Wilson v. NOCO Motor Fuel, Inc., 263 F.3d 208 (2d Cir. 2001) (FMLA and related discrimination considerations)
Weinstock v. Columbia Univ., 224 F.3d 33 (2d Cir. 2000) (NYSHRL and discrimination standards)