Citations
- 916 F. Supp. 2d 470
Full opinion text
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
J. PAUL OETKEN, District Judge.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York (“the Fed”) has filed a motion to dismiss the First Amended Complaint (“Compl.”) filed by Bruce Goonan (“Plaintiff’). Plaintiff alleges discrimination and retaliation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., the New York State Human Rights Law, Executive Law § 290 et seq., and the Administrative Code of the City of New York, § 8-101 et seq. The Fed has moved to dismiss Plaintiffs claims on the ground that it offered him reasonable accommodations and Plaintiff subsequently caused a breakdown in the interactive process. The Fed argues in the alternative that Plaintiffs state and city law claims are preempted by the Federal Reserve Act, 12 U.S.C. § 341 (Fifth) (“the FRA”). For the reasons that follow, the Fed’s motion to dismiss is denied.
I. Background
The following facts are drawn from the First Amended Complaint and are presumed true for purposes of this motion.
Plaintiff worked for twenty-five years in the Fed’s Information Technology Department. (Compl. at ¶ 11.) Just before his employment ended, Plaintiff had spent ten years in the Fed’s Technology Services Group (“TSG”), where he “consistently met overall expectations,” was “progressively promoted to more senior positions with salary increases,” and “received an incentive bonus in 2009.” (Id. at ¶ 11-12.) Until the events giving rise to this lawsuit, he never received a poor performance warning. (Id. at ¶ 13.)
On September 11, 2001 (“9/11”), Plaintiff was working in the N.Y. Fed Office located at 2 Federal Reserve Plaza, two blocks from the World Trade Center (