NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) – A Russian immigrant was unable to prove the New York City Police Department discriminated against him with a series of demotions because none of his countrymen were employed in his unit but he will have a chance to make his case under the City Human Rights Laws anyway.
The New York Appellate Division, First Department ruled Dec. 3 Alex Pelepelin, a detective with 20 years in the NYPD who fell from detail on the Executive Protection Unit to uniformed guard duty at City Hall, met his pleading burden under the city’s HRL but not the state’s.
Pelepelin was born in Russia in 1967 and claimed his reassignment to less prestigious posts was a case of discrimination, but the Appellate Division said he couldn’t prove other Russians were treated similarly.
“Plaintiff alleges that he was the only Russian officer in the EPU. Hence, without some other evidence of anti-Russian bias, it is unreasonable to infer that any actions taken against him were motivated by discriminatory animus, since, by definition, he will always be the only Russian impacted by any employment action directed at him,” the court ruled.
He began his assignment in the EPU in 2014 but ended up on guard duty at City Hall after complaining about being passed over for promotions. His pay did not change.
He had emailed Inspector Howard Redmond to complain when a younger detective he deemed less qualified was promoted ahead of him. Redmond sent him to the gates of City Hall in response.
“The reassignment to guard duty, without any change in pay, did not by itself constitute an adverse employment action for purposes of the State HRL,” the ruling says.
“It did, however, constitute a disadvantageous action for purposes of the City HRL. Plaintiff’s email to Redmond constituted a protected activity, and a causal connection can be inferred from close temporal proximity of the immediate reassignment.
“Plaintiff has accordingly adequately pled a claim for retaliation under the City HRL.”