Sexual Orientation Discrimination: West Side Story, East Village Gossip
Appellate Term, First Department: Taylor v. New York University Medical Center (NYUMC) et. al.
In 1994, Mark Taylor’s secret was out big time. A book published that year— Leonard Bernstein by Humphrey Burton—detailed his intimate relationship with the late composer of West Side Story fame. It was very juicy stuff for the office. As the court put it, plaintiff became the hot topic at the water cooler. Two years later he was fired as Director of External Affairs for NYUMC.
Unfortunately for Mr. Taylor, juicy gossip does not a discrimination suit make and his Civil Court award in the amount of $1.4 million (the trial court had already reduced the $2 million jury verdict) was reversed and his case dismissed.
Plaintiff claimed that one of the bosses, defendant Peter Ferrara, had an “anti-gay” animus and that he was responsible for the decision to fire him. While plaintiff showed that there was “no love lost” between the two men and that he had filed a complaint about Ferrara in 1995 for some off-color comment he made (which resulted in counseling for Ferrara), Mr. Taylor still failed to prove discrimination.
According to the court, Mr. Taylor was not fired because he was gay. Defendants showed that terminating Mr. Taylor was the end result of an ongoing budgetary and reorganization process, neither of which was a pretext for plaintiff’s discharge. Once the defendants showed the firing was a legitimate business decision, it became Mr. Taylor’s burden to prove that discrimination was their real motive and that “their business decisions would not have been made but for a discriminatory motive.”
As the court also noted, “mere personality conflicts must not be mistaken for unlawful discrimination” and being openly gay (or famously gay by being outed in print) does not insulate the employee from legitimate business decisions that result in his termination. It was not enough for Mr. Taylor to believe he was fired because he was gay; he had to have the proof. The Appellate Term said he came up short, particularly since it turned out defendant Ferrara had nothing to do with the decision to fire him. Taylor's case was dismissed.
In West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein’s Jets put it this way: “You're never alone, You're never disconnected! You're home with your own: When company's expected, You're well protected!” Like it or not, New York is an “at will” employment state. When the ax falls—as long as it falls for legitimate business reasons—you are alone and you’re completely unprotected, and neither skin color, sexual preference, age nor religion will buy you job security. Get fired for the wrong reasons, however, and Riff, the leader of the Jet’s said it best: “We challenge you to a rumble. All out, once and for all.”
You don’t have to be the same as everyone else at work, or even be liked or understood. That’s the stuff of gossip. But if you do your job, you can’t be fired because you’re different. That’s the stuff of discrimination and something worth fighting about, "all out, once and for all."
