Dawson v. County of Westchester

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• holding that a § 1983 claim can only be brought alongside a Title VII claim if the § 1983 claim is based on a distinct constitutional right, such as the Equal Protection Clause
• noting that a defendant “in a § 1983 action is not liable simply on the basis of holding a high position of authority”
• holding that a defendant acted under the color of state law for purposes of § 1983 where, “as [the] plaintiffs’ supervisor, [he] told [the] plaintiffs he would investigate the source of [harassing] letters in his official capacity, but apparently failed to do so”
• characterizing issue as whether the employer, once notified of the harassment, took “reasonable care to prevent the harassment or act promptly to correct it”
• “The Second Circuit has held that claims of sexual harassment, brought under the Equal Protection Clause, are actionable under § 1983.”
• “Because there are no clearly articulated standards in this Circuit with respect to hostile work environment claims under § 1983, [courts] must look to Title VII for significant guidance.” (quotations omitted)

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).