Tiffany v. Dzwonczyk, 696 F. App'x 7

Plaintiff Randall Tiffany, pro se, sued the New York State Veterans Home, supervisors, and a co-worker under the FMLA and Title VII alleging retaliation and a hostile work environment.
Tiffany took FMLA leave, returned, allegedly took unauthorized leave for about a year, and was terminated in October 2014.
He also made complaints to the Inspector General and Governor in mid-2013 alleging corruption, nepotism, and favoritism.
The district court dismissed his Title VII hostile work environment claim sua sponte and granted defendants’ unopposed motion to dismiss his FMLA retaliation claim.
Tiffany appealed; the Second Circuit reviewed de novo the dismissals under the Iqbal/Twombly pleading standards.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
FMLA retaliation: whether complaint plausibly alleges causal connection between protected FMLA activity and termination	Tiffany points to his exercise of FMLA rights and later complaints to IG/Governor as evidence of retaliation	Defendants argue termination occurred over a year after FMLA leave and after extended unauthorized leave, so no plausible retaliatory inference	Dismissal affirmed — timing too remote and complaints did not concern FMLA, so no plausible inference of retaliation
Title VII hostile work environment: whether complaint pleads adverse conduct because of a protected characteristic	Tiffany suggests a court could infer age discrimination caused the hostile environment	Defendants note Title VII does not cover age and complaint alleges no protected-class based mistreatment	Dismissal affirmed — complaint fails to allege membership in a Title VII protected class or nexus between conduct and protected status

Barrows v. Burwell, 777 F.3d 106 (2d Cir.) (standard of review for dismissal)
Spool v. World Child Int’l Adoption Agency, 520 F.3d 178 (2d Cir.) (conclusory allegations insufficient to avoid dismissal)
Krys v. Pigott, 749 F.3d 117 (2d Cir.) (wholly conclusory allegations inadequate)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (Sup. Ct.) (complaint must plead factual content to permit reasonable inference of liability)
Donnelly v. Greenburgh Cent. Sch. Dist. No. 7, 691 F.3d 134 (2d Cir.) (elements of FMLA retaliation claim and temporal-proximity inference)
Bucalo v. Shelter Island Union Free Sch. Dist., 691 F.3d 119 (2d Cir.) (temporal gap measured in months, not years, for causation inference)
Patane v. Clark, 508 F.3d 106 (2d Cir.) (hostile work environment actionable only when based on protected characteristic)
General Dynamics Land Sys., Inc. v. Cline, 540 U.S. 581 (Sup. Ct.) (Title VII does not cover age discrimination)