Park v. Kurtosys Sys., Inc.
Docket: Index No. 151068/18 Appeal No. 16215 Case No. 2021-04795
Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York; June 28, 2022; New York; State Appellate Court
Original Court Document: View Document
Carol Park appealed the Supreme Court's decision that granted summary judgment to Kurtosys Systems, Inc. and others, dismissing her claims of discrimination and retaliation under the State and City Human Rights Laws. The Appellate Division, First Department, affirmed the lower court's ruling, concluding that the defendants provided a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for Park's termination, citing poor job performance. Park was hired as the director of enterprise sales with expectations to quickly contribute while learning. However, her performance was inadequate, with only 11 recorded activities in the company’s CRM, no client meetings, and no revenue generated from closed deals. The court found that Park failed to demonstrate that the reasons for her termination were a pretext for gender discrimination, as her cited male comparator had a significantly lower salary and lower responsibilities, yet outperformed her. Regarding the retaliation claim, the defendants established that Park did not engage in any protected activity. Her complaints about exclusion from meetings did not show that her coworkers’ behavior was motivated by her gender, particularly as she acknowledged that female colleagues were present in those meetings. Additionally, the court dismissed claims that individual defendants aided and abetted one another in discriminatory actions, noting that Park’s supervisor could not have aided and abetted his own alleged conduct. There was no evidence that another defendant was aware of any discriminatory behavior. The court's decision emphasizes that without evidence of discrimination or retaliation, the claims were unfounded.