January 3, 2008

Plaintiff -- who was defendant-college's only full-time corporate recruiter -- was fired after injuries she suffered in a car accident made her unable to make recruiting trips to Staten Island. She sued, alleging violations of the New York State and City Human Rights Law, but the First Department dismissed her complaint, in Jones v. Saint Joesph's College, which was decided on December 27, 2007. The court found record evidence that recruiting trips to Staten Island were an essential function of the job, and determined that plaintiff's suggested accommodation of assigning Staten Island recruiting trips to other employees was unreasonable. The court gave short shrift to plaintff's contention that the firing was based on animus.