Full opinion text
OPINION & ORDER KENNETH M. KARAS, District Judge: Plaintiff Vanessa Cowan (“Plaintiff’ or “Cowan”) brings this Action against Defendants The City of Mount Vernon (the “City”), DaMia Harris (“Harris”), and Hamp Miller (“Miller”) (collectively “Defendants”), alleging sexual harassment and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (“Title VII”) and the New York State Human Rights Law, N.Y. Exec. Law § 290 et seq. (“NYSHRL”), violations of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, negligent supervision, assault, false imprisonment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Before the Court is Defendants’ Motion For Partial Summary Judgment, seeking summary judgment on Plaintiffs claims that Defendants violated her right to Equal Protection, that Defendants retaliated against her, and that Miller engaged in intentional infliction of emotional distress. (Defs.’ Mot. For Partial Summ. J. (Dkt. No. 27).) For the following reasons, Defendants’ Motion is granted in part and denied in part. I. Background A. The Facts Plaintiff was employed by the City to work in the Youth Bureau from March 29, 2010 until March 28, 2011. (Defs.’ Rule 56.1 Statement (“Defs.’ 56.1”) ¶ 1 (Dkt. No. 28); Aff. of DaMia Harris-Madden (“Harris Aff.”) ¶¶ 2, 17 (Dkt. No. 32).) During Plaintiffs employment, Harris was employed by the City as the Executive Director of the City’s Youth Bureau, (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 2; Aff. of Jessica C. Moller (“Moller Aff.”) Ex. G (“Harris Tr.”) 8-9 (Dkt. No. 33); Harris Aff. ¶ 1), and Jennifer CokerWiggins was employed by the City in the positions of Deputy Commissioner of Human Resources and Commissioner of Human Resources, (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 3; Moller Aff. Ex. H (“Coker-Wiggins Tr.”) 9, 31). Coker-Wiggins was the City’s first Deputy Commissioner and Commissioner of Human Resources and had no prior experience running a human resources department. (Pl.’s Rule 56.1 Statement (“Pl.’s 56.1”) ¶¶ 3, 56-57 (Dkt. No. 47); CokerWiggins Tr. 10-15, 29-32.) Harris first hired Plaintiff as a Community Worker Aide. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 5; Harris Tr. 25; Harris Aff. ¶ 2; Moller Aff. Ex. E (“Cowan Tr.”) 27-28.) For the first few weeks that Plaintiff worked as a Community Worker Aide, her job consisted of performing various clerical-type duties, such as typing, as an administrative assistant for Harris. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 6; Harris Tr. 25; Harris Aff. ¶ 2; Cowan Tr. 28-30.) Because Plaintiff demonstrated an interest in working with the students served by the Youth Bureau, Harris assigned Plaintiff to work with the “Students Taking Responsibility, Ownership Now in Graduating” Program, known as “S.T.R.O.N.G.” (“STRONG”) in the Spring of 2010. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 7; Harris Tr. 26; Harris Aff. ¶ 3; Cowan Tr. 30-32.) STRONG, which is is operated by the Youth Bureau in the Mount Vernon High School, works with high school students to improve their academic performance and character development, and provides them with career exposure and cultural enrichment opportunities. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶¶ 8-9; Moller Aff. Ex. F (“Miller Tr.”) 32; Harris Aff. ¶¶ 4-5; Cowan Tr. 34.) Plaintiff remained a Youth Bureau employee during the time that she worked for STRONG. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 12; Harris Tr. 27.) Miller was employed by the City as the Director of STRONG and served as Plaintiffs direct supervisor throughout the time that Plaintiff worked for the Youth Bureau. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶¶ 10-11; Miller Tr. 28, 32, 63, 163; Aff. of Hamp Miller, Jr. (“Miller Aff.”) ¶ 1 (Dkt. No. 31); Harris Tr. 32, 180-81; Harris Aff. ¶ 4; Cowan Tr. 95-96.) When Plaintiff first started working with STRONG she retained the title Community Worker Aide. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 13; Harris Tr. 64-66.) Harris, with input from Miller about Plaintiffs work performance, and general input from Coker-Wiggins about Plaintiffs need for full-time employment, decided to appoint Plaintiff to a Project Coordinator position. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶¶ 13, 15; Harris Tr. 68-75, 231.) According to Defendants, effective September 20, 2010, Plaintiff was given a temporary appointment to a full-time Project Coordinator position that expired on March 31, 2011, which meant that after that date Plaintiff would not have been compensated. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶¶ 17-18; Harris Tr. 83-84, 87-88, 150; Harris Aff. ¶ 7; Coker-Wiggins Tr. 68.) Plaintiff disputes this fact, stating that she was “given an appointment for a ‘six month probationary term[,]’ ... within the purview of the [City] Civil Service Law,” under which “a probationary employee can be terminated at the end of [her] term but [her] term will not simply ‘expire.’ ” (“Pl.’s 56.1” ¶¶ 17-18 (citations omitted).) At the time Plaintiff was appointed to the Project Coordinator position, Harris was not aware 'of any major problems with Plaintiff’s performance. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 19; Harris Tr. 75; Harris Aff. ¶ 9.) Plaintiff agrees, but also states that Harris was aware at the time that she hired Plaintiff as Project Coordinator, that Plaintiff did not meet the educational or experience requirements of the position. (PL’s 56.1 ¶ 19.) As a Project Coordinator, Plaintiff worked solely with STRONG and was “responsible for managing all the day-to-day functions of a program site, [and] to a certain degree[,] personnel, planning, screening, student recruitment, press releases, field trip organization, and in some instances, answering phones, interacting with parents, [and] interacting with school staff.” (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 20; Miller Tr. 171; Harris Aff. ¶ 8.) Some of the-job duties performed by Plaintiff as a Project Coordinator were similar to the job duties that she had performed as a Community Aide, but Plaintiffs job duties expanded as a Project Coordinator. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 21; Harris Tr. 65-67; Miller Tr. 19-20.) Plaintiff was advised what her job duties as a Project Coordinator were and what' was expected of her in that position. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 22; Miller Tr. 140-41.) Harris was “extremely demanding with regard to the ... STRONG Program” and held people accountable for their performance. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 23;. Miller Tr. 98-99.) Throughout • the time that Plaintiff worked for the Youth Bureau, the City had an established written anti-harassment policy that prohibited sexual harassment (the “Policy”). (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶43; CokerWiggins Tr. 27, 34; Aff. of Judy Williams (“Williams Aff.”) ¶ 2 Ex. A (Dkt. No. 30).) The Policy provided a description of (i) what constituted prohibited sexual harassment, (ii) set forth a complaint procedure for employees to report instances of harassment, which provided that such reports could be made verbally or in writing and that all complaints of harassment would be investigated promptly, and (iii) prohibited retaliation against any employee who made a good faith complaint of harassment under such policy. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶¶ 44-47; Williams Aff. Ex. A.) The Policy was distributed to all City employees, including Plaintiff. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶¶ 48, 51; Coker-Wiggins Tr. 40-41; Cowan Tr. 288.) Coker-Wiggins conducted numerous training sessions oh the Policy for City employees, during which she reviewed the complaint procedure set forth in that policy, and the City brought in an outside professor from a local college to conduct sexual harassment training sessions for its employees. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶¶ 49-50; CokerWiggins Tr. 35, 39-42; Miller Tr. 187-91, 195.) Plaintiff attended several of these training sessions. (Pl.’s 56.1 ¶ 60.) Plaintiff alleges that during these sessions, City employees were informed that in the absence of -written, - audio recorded and/or video recorded evidence, employees would have insufficient evidence to proceed with a sexual harassment complaint and were also severely admonished about the adverse employment consequences associated with making false claims of sexual harassment. (Pl.’s 56.1 ¶¶ 49, 61.) Plaintiff alleges that Miller sexually harassed Plaintiff, culminating in a vicious assault that occurred in or around January 2011. (Pl.’s 56.1 ¶ 67.) For the purpose of the instant Motion, Defendants do not contest the allegations of sexual harassment that Plaintiff makes in her Amended Complaint, and, accordingly, the Court accepts them as true. From April 2010 until September 2010, Plaintiff and Miller shared an office in the Mount Vernon High School and were the only two individuals in that office. (Am. Compl. ¶24.) Throughout Plaintiffs employment, Miller engaged in a continuous and constant course of sexual harassment, discrimination, and intimidation, and created a hostile workplace. (Id. ¶ 25.) Specifically, on a daily basis, Miller made comments about Plaintiffs body, her appearance, and his desire to have sexual relations with her. (Id. ¶ 26.) Miller also physically touched Plaintiff in a sexual manner, including feeling her back, pinching her buttocks, slapping and/or squeezing her buttocks, and grabbing her chest. (Id. ¶ 27.) From April 2010 to September 2010, Miller exposed his penis to Plaintiff at least 20 times. (Id. ¶28.) Miller also made comments to Plaintiff that he would leave his wife if he could and that Plaintiff “shouldn’t be single” because she had “children to support.” (Id.) To intimidate Plaintiff and make her feel powerless to stop his harassment, Miller would constantly state to Plaintiff that he “had a special relationship” with Harris and that Plaintiff would be well advised not to report any of his conduct to Harris. (Id. ¶¶ 29, 34.) When Plaintiff complained to her co-worker, Elizabeth Abel (“Abel”), about the sexual harassment, Miller commented to Plaintiff that she should not make any reports to Abel if she wanted to keep her job. (Id. ¶ 33.) In or around August 2010, Miller invited Plaintiff to accompany him on a trip to Philadelphia and told her that if she did not go with him that she might not have a job because she was not “showing him that she wanted to work there.” (Id. ¶¶ 30, 32.) In or around September 2010,' another employee began to work in the office that Plaintiff and Miller shared. (Id. ¶ 37.) During this time, Miller would call Plaintiff to the side of the office, where he continued to expose himself to Plaintiff and to make sexually explicit comments to her. (Id. ¶ 38.) Miller told Plaintiff that it was “too bad” that the other employee was in the office because he “missed [their] time together.” (Id. ¶ 39.) Miller would continually tell Plaintiff that she was an at-will employee who could be fired at any time, and told her that he was not sure she was “working out” in her position. (Id. ¶ 41.) From September 2010 to December 2010, Miller began showing up at Plaintiff’s other job as a fitness instructor at the YMCA in Yonkers, where he would stare at her and approach her after class. (Id. ¶¶ 46-49.) Miller also came to Plaintiff’s residence and forced his way. inside, ostensibly to retrieve a camera that Plaintiff used to take pictures to promote STRONG. (Id. ¶ 50.) In January 2011, Miller locked Plaintiff in his office and exposed his penis to her. (Id. ¶ 51.) As Plaintiff attempted to leave, Miller pushed her away from the door and blocked her, telling Plaintiff that she had to give him some “relief’ and saying, “if I don’t get relief, you will lose your job.” (Id. ¶¶ 52-53.) Miller told Plaintiff that it was “time to get to the bottom of this, I’m tired of this, you need to relieve me.” (Id. ¶ 54.) Plaintiff pushed her way out of the office. (Id.). Miller’s harassment continued through March 2011. (Id. ¶ 61.) On March 21, 2011, Miller told Plaintiff that he was “tired of her nonsense” and that “either you do me or you’re done.” (Id.) On March 24, 2011, Miller slapped Plaintiff on the buttocks and rubbed “his crotch area” against her. (Id.) Plaintiff did not make any formal complaints of sexual harassment against Miller before March 21, 2011. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 52; Cowan Tr. 216-17.) Nevertheless, according to Plaintiff, she continually reported Miller’s conduct to Coker-Wiggins and attempted to make a formal complaint concerning Miller’s sexual harassment on numerous occasions, but was discouraged from doing so by Coker-Wiggins. (Pl.’s 56.1 ¶¶ 52, 68; Cowan Tr. 124, 132, 178, 201-02, 234-37, 265-72.) Specifically, Coker-Wiggins told Plaintiff that she should “keep her head down” and warned Plaintiff of the adverse impact to her career if she were to report the sexual harassment. (Pl.’s 56.1 ¶ 69; Cowan Tr. 132, 177-78, 201-02, 234-37, 265-72.) At her deposition, Plaintiff testified that she discussed filing a formal complaint with Coker-Wiggins on March 24, 2011. (Cowan Tr. 266; see also Pl.’s 56.1 ¶ 70.) When Plaintiff presented her written complaint, CokerWiggins told her that she “did not have enough” to sustain a sexual harassment complaint and that she should produce another complaint that did not contain the sexual harassment content. (PL’s 56.1 ¶ 71; Cowan Tr. 265-272.) On March 25, 2011, Plaintiff sent Coker-Wiggins an email, which stated that it was Plaintiff’s “initial complaint of hostility in the workplace against Hamp Miller.” (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 53; Cowan Tr. 285-86; Id. at Ex. 4; Coker-Wiggins Tr. 117;' Id. at Ex. 3.) Defendants claim that Plaintiff did not file a written sexual harassment complaint against Miller with the City, (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 54; Cowan Tr. 300-03), but Plaintiff denies this fact, (Pl.’s 56.1 ¶ 54; Cowan Tr. 304-05). Plaintiff did not complain to Harris that she was being sexually harassed by Miller. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 40; Harris Tr. 208-10; Harris Aff. ¶ 20.) However, during her employment as a Project Coordinator, Plaintiff made numerous complaints about the computer that she was assigned to use for STRONG, including that it did not work or was not working properly, that it could not access the Internet, and that it did not have the appropriate software. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶39; Cowan Tr. 61-62, 143-44, 147, 179; Miller Tr. 84-85; Harris Tr. 208-09, 251.) Defendants contend that the first time Harris became aware that Plaintiff claimed that Miller sexually harassed her was after Plaintiff served her Notice of Claim on the City. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 41; Harris Tr. 210-13; Harris Aff. ¶ 22.) Plaintiff contests this fact. (Pl.’s 56.1 ¶ 41.) Plaintiffs Notice of Claim is dated June 27, 2011 and was served on the City on or about June 28, 2011. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 42; Harris Aff. ¶ 22; Moller Aff. Ex. D; Miller Tr. 89.) Plaintiffs employment was terminated on March 28, 2011. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 24; Harris Aff. ¶ 17; Miller Tr. 91.) Harris made the final decision to terminate Plaintiffs employment. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 25; Harris Aff. ¶¶ 18-19.) According to Plaintiff, she was never informed by Harris that she was terminated, and only learned- of the termination from Coker-Wiggins who advised her after she submitted her formal complaint against Miller that “it would be better for everyone if [you] didn’t come back.” (Pl.’s 56.1 ¶ 25; Cowan Tr. 272.) Harris had the authority to hire and fire employees at the Youth Bureau, including those employees that worked for the STRONG Program. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 26; Harris Aff. ¶¶ 18-19; Miller Aff. ¶ 4; Coker-Wiggins Tr. 93, 170.) In contrast, Miller did not have the authority to terminate Plaintiffs employment with the Youth Bureau or STRONG. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶27; Harris Aff. ¶¶ 18-19; Miller Aff. ¶¶ 4-6.) According to Defendants, Harris decided to terminate Plaintiffs employment because of deficiencies in her performance that culminated in an incident in late March of 2011 involving Plaintiffs keys to STRONG’s office. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 28; Harris Tr. 151,173; Harris Aff. ¶¶ 9-17.) Plaintiff disputes this fact. (PL’s 56.1 ¶ 28.) STRONG is a grant-funded program and the grant that funds STRONG requires it to recruit and provide services to a total of 300 high school students every year. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶¶ 29-30; Harris Tr. 27, 58; Miller Tr. 11.) To meet this requirement, STRONG staff was responsible for directly providing services to 150 students in the eleventh and twelfth grades, and a subcontractor of STRONG, The Guidance Center, was responsible for providing services to 150 students in the ninth and tenth grades. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 31; Harris Tr. 92-93, 96; Miller Tr. 40-42.) According to the terms of the grant, each student needed to complete at least one hour of STRONG programming per day for 30 days during the academic year. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 32; Harris Tr. 123; Miller Tr. 15-18.) STRONG’s year of programming starts in July and ends the following June. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 33; Miller Tr. 36.) Plaintiff contests these facts because although she requested production of the grant terms and documentation, the material was never provided in discovery. (Pl.’s 56.1 ¶¶ 30-33.) Whether STRONG was meeting its required recruitment numbers was a “major concern” for Harris. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 34; Harris Tr. 75, 98.) On or about November 29, 2010, Harris informed Plaintiff that she was “gravely concerned” about Plaintiffs recruitment of students to STRONG. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 35; Harris Aff. ¶ 10.) Only 66 students had been recruited to STRONG by the end of February 2011 and STRONG did not meet its required recruitment numbers for the 2010-2011 school year. (Defs.’’ 56.1 ¶¶ 36-37; Harris Tr. 205; Harris Aff. ¶ 11.) Again, Plaintiff contests this fact on the basis that she did not receive the material she asked for in discovery. (PL’s 56.1 ¶¶ 36-37.) Plaintiff claims that she was never disciplined for poor job performance and that Harris never wrote anything derogatory about Plaintiffs performance in her monthly reports about STRONG. (PL’s 56.1 ¶¶ 73-74; Aff. of Benjamin L. Felcher Leavitt (“Leavitt Aff.”) Ex. 1 (Dkt. No. 42).) Plaintiff inexplicably states that the reports were “created by Ms. DaMia Harris detailing the progress of the ... STRONG program.” (Leavitt Aff. ¶ 2.) The reports make clear, however, that they are from Miller to Harris. (See e.g., Leavitt Aff. Ex. 1, at 1059.) Harris also states that she “did not author the monthly reports or otherwise take part in their creation or preparation.” (Reply Aff. of DaMia Harris-Madden (“Harris Reply”) ¶ 3 (Dkt. No. 51).) B. Procedural History Plaintiff filed the initial Complaint on September 11, 2012. (Dkt. No. 1.) Plaintiff filed the Amended Complaint on August 16, 2013. (Dkt. No. 17.) The Amended Complaint alleges several claims based on Miller’s sexual harassment of Plaintiff. Specifically, Count One alleges violations of Plaintiffs right to Equal Protection under the Fourteenth Amendment (“Count One”); Count Two alleges that Defendants conspired to deprive Plaintiff of Equal Protection under the Fourteenth Amendment (“Count Two”); Count Three alleges that Defendants engaged in sexual harassment of Plaintiff (“Count Three”); Count Four alleges that Defendants retaliated against Plaintiff for reporting Miller’s conduct by terminating her employment (“Count Four”); Count Five alleges negligent supervision (“Count Five”); Counts Six and Eight allege assault against Miller (“Count Six” and “Count Eight”); Count Seven alleges false imprisonment against Miller (“Count Seven”); Count Nine alleges intrusion upon seclusion against Miller (“Count Nine”); and Count Ten alleges that Defendants intentionally inflicted emotional distress on Plaintiff (“Count Ten”). The Court so ordered a stipulation on February 4, 2014, dismissing with prejudice Count Nine and Plaintiffs claims for sexual harassment and retaliation alleged in Count Three and Count Four against Harris and Miller. (Dkt. No. 23.) Pursuant to á Scheduling Order dated January 21, 2014, (Dkt. No. 21), Defendants filed their Motion For Partial Summary Judgment and accompanying papers on March 10, 2014, (Dkt. Nos. 27-33). Plaintiff filed her Memorandum of Law in Opposition to the Motion and accompanying papers on May 30, 2014. (Dkt. Nos. 42-43, 45-47.) Defendants filed their Reply Memorandum of Law and accompanying papers on June 20, 2014. (Dkt. Nos. 50-52.) II. Discussion A. Standard of Review Summary judgment shall be granted where the movant shows that “there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a); see also Psihoyos v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 748 F.3d 120, 123-24 (2d Cir.2014) (same). “In determining whether summary judgment is appropriate,” a court must “construe the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and ... resolve all ambiguities and draw all reasonable inferences against the movant.” Brod v. Omya, Inc., 653 F.3d 156, 164 (2d Cir.2011) (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Borough of Upper Saddle River v. Rockland Cnty. Sewer Dist. No. 1, 16 F.Supp.3d 294, 314 (S.D.N.Y.2014) (same). Additionally, “[i]t is the movant’s burden to show that no genuine factual dispute exists.” Vt. Teddy Bear Co. v. 1-800 Bear-gram Co., 373 F.3d 241, 244 (2d Cir.2004); see also Aurora Commercial Corp. v. Approved Funding Corp., No. 13-CV-230, 2014 WL 1386633, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 9, 2014) (same). “However, when the burden of proof at trial would fall on the nonmoving party, it ordinarily is sufficient for the movant to point to a lack of evidence to go to the trier of fact on an essential element of the nonmovant’s claim,” in which case “the nonmoving party must come forward with admissible evidence sufficient to raise a genuine issue of fact for trial in order to avoid summary judgment.” CILP Assocs., L.P. v. PriceWaterhouse Coopers LLP, 735 F.3d 114, 123 (2d Cir.2013) (alterations and internal quotation marks omitted). Further, “[t]o survive a [summary judgment] motion ..., [a nonmovant] need[s] to create more than a ‘metaphysical’ possibility that his allegations were correct; he need[s] to ‘come forward with specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial,’ ” Wrobel v. Cnty. of Erie, 692 F.3d 22, 30 (2d Cir.2012) (emphasis omitted) (quoting Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-87, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986)), and “cannot rely on the mere allegations or denials contained in the pleadings,” Walker v. City of New York, No. 11-CV-2941, 2014 WL 1244778, at *5 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 26, 2014) (internal quotation marks omitted) (citing, inter alia, Wright v. Goord, 554 F.3d 255, 266 (2d Cir.2009) (“When a motion for summary judgment is properly supported by documents or other evidentiary materials, the party opposing summary judgment may not merely rest on the allegations or denials of his pleading. ...”)). “On a motion for summary judgment, a fact is material if it might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law.” Royal Crown Day Care LLC v. Dep’t of Health & Mental Hygiene of City of N.Y., 746 F.3d 538, 544 (2d Cir.2014) (internal quotation marks omitted). At summary judgment, “[t]he role of the court is not to resolve disputed issues of fact but to assess whether there are any factual issues to be tried.” Brod, 653 F.3d at 164 (internal quotation marks omitted); see also In re Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (“MTBE”) Prods. Liab. Litig., MDL No. 1358, No. M21-88, 2014 WL 840955, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 3, 2014) (same). Thus, a court’s goal should be “ ‘to isolate and dispose of factually unsupported claims.’ ” Geneva Pharm. Tech. Corp. v. Barr Labs. Inc., 386 F.3d 485, 495 (2d Cir.2004) (quoting Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323-24, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)); see also Schatzki v. Weiser Capital Mgmt., LLC, No. 10-CV-4685, 2013 WL 6189465, at *14 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 26, 2013) (same). B. Plaintiffs Claim Under 12 U.S.C. § 1988 1. Monell Claim Against the City “To state a claim under [§ 1983], the plaintiff must show that a defendant, acting under color of state law, deprived him of a federal constitutional or statutory right.” Sykes v. Bank of Am., 723 F.3d 399, 405-06 (2d Cir.2013). “Congress did not intend municipalities to be held liable [under § 1983] unless action pursuant to official municipal policy of some nature caused a constitutional tort.” Monell v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs. of City of N.Y., 436 U.S. 658, 691, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978). Thus, “to prevail on a claim against a municipality under section 1983 based on acts of a public official, a plaintiff is required to prove: (1) actions taken under color of law; (2) deprivation of a constitutional or statutory right; (3) causation; (4) damages; and (5) that an official policy of the municipality caused the constitutional injury.” Roe v. City of Waterbury, 542 F.3d 31, 36 (2d Cir.2008); cf. Salvatierra v. Connolly, No. 09-CV-3722, 2010 WL 5480756, at *10 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 1, 2010) (recommending dismissal of a claim against agencies where plaintiff did not allege that any policy or custom caused the deprivation of his rights), adopted by 2011 WL 9398 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 3, 2011); Arnold v. Westchester Cnty., No. 09-CV-3727, 2010 WL 3397375, at *9 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 16, 2010) (recommending dismissal of a claim against county because complaint “does not allege the existence of an unconstitutional custom or policy”), adopted as modified sub nom. Arnold v. Westchester Cnty. Dep’t of Corr., 2010 WL 3397372 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 25, 2010). The fifth element reflects the notion that “a municipality may not be held liable under § 1983 solely because it employs a tortfeasor.” Bd. of Cnty. Comm’rs v. Brown, 520 U.S. 397, 403, 117 S.Ct. 1382, 137 L.Ed.2d 626 (1997); see also Newton v. City of New York, 566 F.Supp.2d 256, 270 (S.D.N.Y.2008) (“As subsequently reaffirmed and explained by the Supreme Court, municipalities may only be held liable when the municipality itself deprives an individual of a constitutional rightIn other words, a municipality may not be liable under Section 1983 “by application of the doctrine of respondeat superior.” Pembaur v. City of Cincinnati 475 U.S. 469, 478, 106 S.Ct. 1292, 89 L.Ed.2d 452 (1986); see also Vassallo v. Lando, 591 F.Supp.2d 172, 201 (E.D.N.Y.2008) (noting that “a municipal entity may only be held liable where the entity itself commits a wrong” (emphasis in original)). Instead, there must be a “direct causal link between a municipal policy or custom and the alleged constitutional deprivation.” City of Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378, 385, 109 S.Ct. 1197, 103 L.Ed.2d 412 (1989); see also City of St. Louis v. Praprotnik, 485 U.S. 112, 122, 108 S.Ct. 915, 99 L.Ed.2d 107 (1988) (“[Governments should be held responsible when, and only when, their official policies cause their employees to violate another person’s constitutional rights.”). “In determining municipal liability, it is necessary to conduct a separate inquiry into whether there exists a ‘policy’ or ‘custom.’ ” Davis v. City of New York, 228 F.Supp.2d 327, 336 (S.D.N.Y.2002), aff'd, 75 Fed.Appx. 827 (2d Cir.2003). A plaintiff may satisfy the “policy or custom” requirement by alleging one of the following. He or she may allege the existence of “(1) a formal policy officially endorsed by the municipality; (2) actions taken by government officials responsible for establishing the municipal policies that caused the particular deprivation in question; (3) a practice so consistent and widespread that, although not expressly authorized, constitutes a custom or usage of which a supervising policy-maker must have been aware; or (4) a failure by policymakers to provide adequate training or supervision to subordinates to such an extent that it amounts to deliberate indifference to the rights of those who come into contact with the municipal employees.” Brandon v. City of New York, 705 F.Supp.2d 261, 276-77 (S.D.N.Y.2010) (citations omitted). Generally, “a custom or policy cannot be shown by pointing to a single instance of unconstitutional conduct by a mere employee of the [municipality].” Newton, 566 F.Supp.2d at 271; see also City of Okla. v. Tuttle, 471 U.S. 808, 823-24, 105 S.Ct. 2427, 85 L.Ed.2d 791 (1985) (plurality opinion) (“Proof of a single incident of unconstitutional activity is not sufficient to impose liability under Monell, unless proof of the incident includes proof it was caused by an existing, unconstitutional municipal policy, which policy can be attributed to a municipal policymaker.”); Brogdon v. City of New Rochelle, 200 F.Supp.2d 411, 427 (S.D.N.Y.2002) (“A single incident by itself is generally insufficient to establish the affirmative link between the municipal policy or custom and the alleged unconstitutional violation.”). In the end, therefore, “a plaintiff must demonstrate that, through its deliberate conduct, the municipality was the ‘moving force’ behind the alleged injury.” Roe, 542 F.3d at 37 (quoting Brown, 520 U.S. at 404, 117 S.Ct. 1382); see also Tuttle, 471 U.S. at 824 n. 8, 105 S.Ct. 2427 (“The fact that a municipal ‘policy1 might lead to ‘police misconduct’ is hardly sufficient to satisfy Monell’s requirement that the particular policy be the ‘moving force’ behind a constitutional violation. There must at least be an affirmative link between [for example] the training inadequacies alleged, and the particular constitutional violation at issue.” (emphasis in original)); Batista v. Rodriguez, 702 F.2d 393, 397 (2d Cir.1983) (“Absent a showing of a causal link between an official policy or custom and the plaintiffs’ injury, Monell prohibits a finding of liability against the [c]ity.”); Johnson v. City of New York, No. 06-CV-9426, 2011 WL 666161, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 15, 2011) (noting that after demonstrating the existence of a municipal policy or custom, “a plaintiff must establish a causal connection — an affirmative link — between the policy and the deprivation of his constitutional rights” (internal quotation marks omitted)). Plaintiff bases her Monell claim on two contentions. First, Plaintiff claims that “the City engaged in a woeful failure to train its employees in such a way as to constitute deliberate indifference to the constitutional rights of municipal employees.” (Pl.’s Mem. of Law in Opp’n to Defs.’ Mot. For Partial Summ. J. (“Pl.’s Mem.”) 6 (Dkt. No. 43).) “To establish deliberate indifference[,] a plaintiff must show that a policymaking official was aware of constitutional injury, or the risk of constitutional injury, but failed to take appropriate action to prevent or sanction violations of constitutional rights.” Jones v. Town of E. Haven, 691 F.3d 72, 81 (2d Cir.2012). “[Deliberate indifference is a stringent standard of fault, and necessarily depends on a careful assessment of the facts at issue in a particular case.” Cash v. County of Erie, 654 F.3d 324, 334 (2d Cir.2011) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). “The operative inquiry,” in turn, “is whether those facts demonstrate that the policymaker’s inaction was the result of conscious choice and not mere negligence.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Jones, 691 F.3d at 81 (“[Demonstration of deliberate indifference requires a showing that the official made a conscious choice, and was not merely negligent.”). Accordingly, a jury may infer deliberate indifference “where the need for more or better supervision to protect against constitutional violations was obvious, but the policymaker failed to make meaningful efforts to address the risk of harm to plaintiffs.” Cash, 654 F.3d at 334 (citations, alterations, and internal quotation marks omitted). The Second Circuit has identified three requirements to determine whether a “failure to train or supervise constitutes deliberate indifference.” Jenkins v. City of New York, 478 F.3d 76, 94 (2d Cir.2007). The plaintiff must show “[ (1) ] that [the] policymaker knows to a moral certainty that her employees will confront a given situation ...[,][ (2) ] that the situation either presents the employee with a difficult choice of the sort that training or supervision will make less difficult or that there is a history of employees mishandling the situation ... [,] [and] [ (3) ] that the wrong choice by the city employee will frequently cause the deprivation of a citizen’s constitutional rights.” Id. (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). “A pattern of similar constitutional violations by untrained employees is ordinarily necessary to demonstrate deliberate indifference for purposes of failure to train.” Connick v. Thompson, 563 U.S. 51, 131 S.Ct. 1350, 1360, 179 L.Ed.2d 417 (2011) (internal quotation marks omitted). “Policymakers’ continued adherence to an approach that they know or should know has failed to prevent tortious conduct by employees may establish the conscious disregard for the consequences of their action — the deliberate indifference — necessary to trigger municipal liability.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted); see also City of Canton, 489 U.S. at 389, 109 S.Ct. 1197 (explaining that a city may be liable under Section 1983 “[o]nly where a failure to train reflects a ‘deliberate’ or ‘conscious’ choice by a municipality”). Moreover, “at the summary judgment stage, plaintiffs must identify a specific deficiency in the city’s training program and establish that the deficiency is closely related to the ultimate injury, such that it actually caused the constitutional deprivation.” Jenkins, 478 F.3d at 94 (internal quotation marks omitted). Here, it is undisputed that Defendants had a training program for sexual harassment in the workplace. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶¶ 49-50; Coker-Wiggins Tr. 35, 39-40; Miller Tr. 187-91, 195.) Accordingly, Plaintiff must “identify a specific deficiency in the [C]ity’s training program and establish that the deficiency is ‘closely related to the ultimate injury,’ such that it ‘actually caused’ the constitutional deprivation.” Amnesty Am. v. Town of W. Hartford, 361 F.3d 113, 129 (2d Cir.2004) (quoting City of Canton, 489 U.S. at 391, 109 S.Ct. 1197). To meet this burden, Plaintiff has alleged two deficiencies in the training program, specifically, Coker-Wiggins’s statements that a complainant needs to have recorded evidence to bring a claim of sexual harassment, and that employees were severely admonished about the adverse employment consequences associated with making false claims of sexual harassment. (Pl.’s 56.1 ¶¶ 49, 61.) Plaintiff does not, however, point to anything in the record, other than her Notice of Claim, to support these allegations. In the instant Motion For Partial Summary Judgment, Plaintiff “cannot rely on the mere allegations ... contained in the pleadings” to create an issue of material fact. Walker, 2014 WL 1244778, at *5. Even assuming that Plaintiff has offered evidence to support her claims about the training sessions that Coker-Wiggins conducted, Plaintiff has not established that the deficiencies in the training program were closely related to the ultimate injury to satisfy her burden of production on a failure to train claim. To the extent that Plaintiff bases this claim on Coker-Wiggins’s failure to advise Plaintiff of her constitutional rights by stating that employees needed recorded evidence, this argument fails. (Pl.’s Mem. 8.) The focus of a failure to train claim is on whether policymakers continued to adhere to an approach that they knew or should have known “has failed to prevent tortious conduct by employees,” Connick, 131 S.Ct. at 1360 (emphasis added), not on whether their failure to train provided incorrect information to employees about their rights. See Stevens v. City of Bridgeport, 607 F.Supp.2d 342, 359 (D.Conn.2009) (explaining that “in a failure to train claim, a court must examine deficiencies in the training provided to the employees alleged to have violated the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights, not deficiencies in any training provided to the plaintiffs”). Next, to the extent that Plaintiff suggests that Coker-Wiggins’s failure to properly train employees resulted in Miller’s conduct, this claim also fails. Plaintiff points to no evidence that suggests that Miller’s conduct was driven or even affected by Coker-Wiggins’s statements that victims of sexual harassment needed to present evidence before making a claim. See Stevens, 607 F.Supp.2d at 358-59 (rejecting the plaintiffs’ theory that the defendant failed to train an employee who engaged in sexual harassment because plaintiffs did not “offer[ ] evidence or argument as to how the deficiencies in the training may have contributed to [the harasser’s] conduct, or how better or different training could have prevented [the harasser’s] conduct”); Perez v. N.Y.C. Dep’t of Corr., No. 10-CV-2697, 2013 WL 500448, at *3 (E.D.N.Y. Jan. 17, 2003) (finding it relevant that the “plaintiff has not provided any evidence that a lack of adequate training was the actual cause of his constitutional injury” (internal quotation marks omitted)). Indeed, Coker-Wiggins testified that during the training sessions, she reviewed the harassment policy with employees “to make sure that the employees understood the policies of the [C]ity,” and that the sessions included two videos and a pamphlet describing sexual harassment, accompanied with a quiz to ensure that employees understood what they viewed in the videos. (Coker-Wiggins Tr. 40-41.) Accordingly, Plaintiff does not point to deficiencies in the training program that were closely related to Miller’s conduct. Assuming, arguendo, that the alleged deficiencies in Coker-Wiggins’s training sessions were related to Plaintiffs ultimate injury, Plaintiff has failed to present evidence that policymakers were aware of these deficiencies. See Perks v. Town of Huntington, 251 F.Supp.2d 1143, 1163 (E.D.N.Y.2003) (“There is no evidence that [the defendant town] knew of [the harasser’s] harassment of [the plaintiff], nor that it knew ‘to a moral certainty’ that sexual harassment was prevalent among its employees, such that its failure to take action can be characterized as deliberate indifference.”). The “stringent ‘deliberate indifference’ standard requires proof that the governmental policymakers were on ‘actual or constructive notice that a particular omission in their training program caused city employees to violate citizens’ constitutional rights,’ and that the policymakers nonetheless chose to retain that training program.” Miller v. County of Nassau, No. 10-CV-3358, 2013 WL 1172833, at *8 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 19, 2013) (quoting Connick, 131 S.Ct. at 1360). In other words, accepting Plaintiffs representations of Coker-Wiggins’s statements during the training sessions as true, there is no evidence that policymakers for the City were aware that Coker-Wiggins allegedly informed employees that they needed recorded evidence of sexual harassment or admonished them of the consequences for falsely reporting a sexual harassment claim. Plaintiff, therefore, has not demonstrated a failure to train that amounts to deliberate indifference under Monell. Second, Plaintiff claims that “she was terminated for reporting sexual harassment because of the City’s policy that required employees who complained of sexual harassment to possess documentary proof before they would be permitted to proceed with formal complaints.” (PL’s Mem. 5-6.) Specifically, Plaintiff argues that the City’s “sexual harassment policy, established in the City Charter[,] was augmented and implemented in trainings designed and put on by ... Coker-Wiggins[,] [who] possessed policy making authority with regard to Human Resource procedures and, through her exercise of this authority, created a policy that directly caused Plaintiff’s harassment.” (Id. at 6.) The Court interprets this contention as advancing two theories: that “[ (1) ] actions taken by government officials responsible for establishing the municipal policies ... caused the particular deprivation in question; [and that] [ (2) ] [there was] a practice so consistent and widespread that, although not expressly authorized, constitute[d] a custom or usage of which a supervising policy-maker must have been aware.” Brandon, 705 F.Supp.2d at 276-77. The Court addresses each of these theories in turn. “Where a plaintiff seeks to hold a municipality liable for a single decision by a municipal policymaker, [the plaintiff] must show that the official had final policymaking power.” City of Waterbury, 542 F.3d at 37 (citation, alterations, and internal quotation marks omitted). “[T]he critical inquiry is not whether an official generally has final policymaking authority; rather, the court must specifically determine whether the government official is a final policymaker with respect to the particular conduct challenged in the lawsuit.” Id.; see also Eldridge v. Rochester City Sch. Dist., 968 F.Supp.2d 546, 562 (W.D.N.Y.2013) (“An official may be a final policymaker as to some issues but not as to others.”). “[T]he question of whether a given official is the ... final policy-making official in a given area is a matter of law to be decided by the court” “before the case is submitted to the jury.” Jeffes v. Barnes, 208 F.3d 49, 57 (2d Cir.2000) (internal quotation marks omitted); see also City of Waterbury, 542 F.3d at 37 (“Whether an official has final policymaking authority is a legal question, determined on the basis of state law.”). Moreover,- “[wjhere a plaintiff relies not on a formally declared or ratified policy, but rather on the theory that the conduct of a given official represents official policy, it is incumbent on the plaintiff to establish that element as a matter of law.” Jeffes, 208 F.3d at 57-58. Plaintiff argues that Coker-Wiggins “was the [C]ity official in charge of creating the City’s sexual harassment training and, accordingly, [its] policy with regard to how claims of sexual harassment would be handled.” (Pl.’s Mem. at 7.) Plaintiff offers no evidence, however, that Coker-Wiggins was a “final policymaker” as a matter of law to justify liability under Monell. Indeed, the City’s sexual harassment policy is embedded within the City Code. (Coker-Wiggins Tr. 27, 32-37.) Plaintiff points to no state or City law that vests Coker-Wiggins with final policymaking authority. Rather, the City Code provides the harassment and retaliation policy that “applies to all City employees.” (See Williams Aff. Ex. A (Mount Vernon City Code (the “Code”) Ch. 50, Art. VI §§ 50-58-50-60).) The Code states that “[t]o assure compliance with [the] policy, Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners and/or any other supervisory or managerial .personnel must take timely and appropriate corrective action when instances of harassment come to their attention.” (Code Ch. 50, Art. VI § 50-58.) The Code outlines the procedures that a complainant and the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner, among others, must follow. (Id. § 50-60.) Furthermore, the Code contains no provision suggesting that the City may delegate its policymaking authority to the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner to change the policy. Cf. Port Wash. Teachers’Ass’n v. Bd. of Educ. of Port Wash. Union Free Sch. Dist., 478 F.3d 494, 501 (2d Cir.2007) (explaining that under New York Law, the Board of Education could delegate its policymaking authority (citing N.Y. Educ. Law ¶ 1709(33))). Even if it did, Plaintiff points to no evidence that the City delegated its policymaking authority to Coker-Wiggins. Rather, Coker-Wiggins testified that although she was involved “[t]o some extent” in instituting a “minor change” in the reporting procedures for sexual harassment, she had no authority to unilaterally amend the City’s sexual harassment policy. (Coker-Wiggins Tr. 32-36 (testifying that ‘“[fif [you are] going to change the charter, amend it, change it majorly, there is more to it that [she] [does not] .necessarily know about. [She] just know[s] there is more to it.”).) Plaintiff claims that Coker-Wiggins had policymaking authority because she “augmented and implemented” the City’s policy through the training that she provided to City employees. However, “[Biability for unauthorized acts is personal; to hold the municipality liable, Monell tells us, the agents’ actions must implement rather than frustrate the government’s policy.” City of Waterbury, 542 F.3d 31, 36-37 (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Brenes v. City of New York, 733 F.Supp.2d 357, 363 (E.D.N.Y.2010) (same). In short, Plaintiff points to nothing to suggest that Coker-Wiggins in her capacity as Deputy Commissioner of Human Resources and Commissioner of Human Resources possessed final policymaking authority as a matter of law such that her conduct would support liability under Monell. See Saunders v. N.Y.C. Dep’t of Educ., No. 07-CV-2725, 2010 WL 2985031, at *3 (E.D.N.Y. July 20, 2010) (holding that a deputy director for human resources “was not a high-ranking official with final authority over significant matters sufficient to sustain a Monell claim against the [New York City Department of Education]”) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). However, under the third theory of Monell liability, Plaintiff has established a claim based on Coker-Wiggins’s failure to address her complaints. The Second Circuit has held that “a municipal policy may be inferred from the informal acts or omissions of supervisory municipal officials.” Zahra v. Town of Southold, 48 F.3d 674, 685 (2d Cir.1995) (citing Turpin v. Mailet, 619 F.2d 196, 200 (2d Cir.1980)). Moreover, “municipal inaction such as the persistent failure to discipline subordinates who violate [persons’] civil rights could give rise to an inference of an unlawful municipal policy of ratification of unconstitutional conduct.” Batista, 702 F.2d at 397. Specifically, “[i]n the context of sexual harassment, inaction may be actionable, and failure to promptly and properly respond to complaints may expose a supervisor or employer to liability under anti-discrimination laws.” Burhans v. Lopez, 24 F.Supp.3d 375, 382 (S.D.N.Y.2014) (citing Duch v. Jakubek, 588 F.3d 757, 766 (2d Cir.2009); Ferris v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 277 F.3d 128, 136 (2d Cir.2001)). Put another way, the “ ‘failure properly to investigate and address allegations’ of harassment [may] allow[ ] for the conduct to become an accepted custom or practice of the employer.” Matusick v. Erie Cnty. Water Auth., 757 F.3d 31, 63 (2d Cir.2014) (alterations omitted) (quoting Gierlinger v. New York State Police, 15 F.3d 32, 34 (2d Cir.1994)); see also Stevens, 607 F.Supp.2d at 353 (same). Here, Plaintiff has testified that she made several complaints about Miller’s pervasive sexual harassment to co-workers and to CokerWiggins over the course of several months. Coker-Wiggins did not investigate her claims, but rather informed Plaintiff that she should not complain of the harassment. (Pl.’s 56.1 ¶¶ 52, 68; Co-wan Tr. 124, 132, 178, 201-02, 234-37.) Indeed, Plaintiff testified that Coker-Wiggins requested that she re-write her formal complaint in March 2011 to omit the allegations of sexual harassment. (Cowan Tr. 265-72.) This testimony creates an issue of fact as to whether, because of Coker-Wiggins’s failure to investigate Plaintiffs complaints, the unconstitutional conduct — specifically, Miller’s pervasive sexual harassment and intimidation — became an accepted custom of the City. See Matusick, 757 F.3d at 63 (noting that a supervisor’s “high-level position ... and her failure to address the harassment supported] an inference that [the defendant] also knew of the harassment and allowed for the conduct to become the accepted custom or practice of the [workplace]”); cf. Peguero-Miles v. City Univ. of N.Y., No. 13-CV-1636, 2014 WL 4804464, at *10 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 25, 2014) (“Assuming, as the [c]ourt must on a motion to dismiss, that, as alleged, [the] [p]laintiff s employer disregarded complaints of discrimination, discouraged employees from complaining about discrimination, and fired other individuals who similarly complained of discrimination, [the] [p]laintiff does not merely assert that a policy or custom exists but instead alleges facts from which, at least circumstantially, such a policy can be inferred.”). Accordingly, the Court denies Defendants’ Motion For Summary Judgment as to Plaintiffs claim against the City under § 1983. 2. Section 1983 Claim Against Individual Defendants Plaintiff also presses claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Miller and Harris for violating her “right to equal protection by subjecting her to a hostile work environment and sexual harassment.” (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 70-73.) “[T]he Equal Protection Clause protects ... employees from sex-based workplace discrimination, including hostile work environments and disparate treatment.” Raspardo v. Carlone, 770 F.3d 97, 114 (2d Cir.2014). Similarly, “[sjexual harassment that rises to the level of gender discrimination is actionable under § 1983 as violative of the Fourteenth Amendment to equal protection.” Pedrosa v. City of New York, No. 13-CV-1890, 2014 WL 99997, at *5 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 9, 2014) (citing Annis v. County Of Westchester, 36 F.3d 251, 254 (2d Cir.1994)). “[Harassment that transcends coarse, hostile[,] and boorish behavior can rise to the level of a constitutional tort.” Annis, 36 F.3d at 254; see also Atkinson v. N.Y. State Olympic Reg’l Dev. Auth., 822 F.Supp.2d 182, 191 (N.D.N.Y.2011) (same). Contrary to Defendants’ suggestion otherwise, a “Title VII plaintiff is not precluded from bringing a concurrent § 1983 cause of action, such as a claim for denial of equal protection, so long as the § 1983 claim is based on a distinct violation of a constitutional right.” Humphrey v. County of Nassau, No. 06-CV-3682, 2009 WL 875534, at *17 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 30, 2009) (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Alexander v. Westbury Union Free Sch. Dist., 829 F.Supp.2d 89, 119 (E.D.N.Y.2011) (“A plaintiff may only concurrently assert a Title VII cause of action with a section 1983 cause of action ‘if some other law than Title VII is the source of the right alleged to have been denied.’ ” (quoting Saulpaugh v. Monroe Cmty. Hosp., 4 F.3d 134, 143 (2d Cir.1993))). Even though “Title VII claims are not cognizable against individuals, individuals may be held liable under ...[§] 1983 for certain types of discriminatory acts, including those giving rise to a hostile work environment.” Patterson v. County of Oneida, 375 F.3d 206, 226 (2d Cir.2004); see also Humphrey, 2009 WL 875534, at *17 (same); cf. Reynolds v. Barrett, 685 F.3d 193, 202 (2d Cir.2012) (“Employers, not individuals, are liable under Title VII.”). Indeed, as the Second Circuit has noted, it has “long recognized that Title VII-based hostile work environment claims by government employees are actionable under § 1983.” Raspardo, 770 F.3d at 114. a. Section 1983 Claim Against Miller To establish a claim under § 1983 against an individual defendant, the plaintiff must demonstrate the defendant’s personal involvement in the alleged discrimination. Patterson, 375 F.3d at 229; see also Raspardo, 770 F.3d at 115 (“If a defendant has not personally violated a plaintiffs constitutional rights, the plaintiff cannot succeed on a § 1983 action against the defendant.” (emphasis in original)). Plaintiff has demonstrated that Miller was personally involved in discriminating against her. Here, Plaintiff alleges that Miller “engaged in a despicable course of conduct involving creating a hostile work place and engaging in sexual harassment and discrimination by making sexual comments to Plaintiff, requesting that she perform sexual acts with him, appearing at her home unannounced, exposing himself to her[,] and finally locking her in a room and attempting to assault her.” (Am. Compl. ¶ 18.) Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that “on a daily basis, Miller made comments about [her] body, her appearance[,] and his desire to have sexual relations with her[,]” and “Miller would, also on a daily basis, physically touch Plaintiff in a sexual manner including but not limited to: feeling Plaintiffs back, arms [sic] hair[,] pinching her buttocks[,] slapping and/or squeezing her buttocks and grabbing her chest.” (Id. ¶¶ 26-27.) Moreover, Plaintiff alleges that “from the time period from April 2010 to September 2010, Miller exposed his penis to Plaintiff no less than 20 times.” (Id. ¶28.) Plaintiff alleges that Miller intimidated her to deter her from reporting his sexual harassment. (Id. ¶¶ 33, 41.) Plaintiff also alleges that Miller began showing up at her other job to stare at her, forced his way inside her residence, and in January 2011, locked her in his office and exposed his penis to her. (Id. ¶¶ 47-51.) Tellingly, Defendants have not moved for summary judgment on the assault and false imprisonment claims against Miller. To the extent that Defendants seek summary judgment as to the § 1983 claim against Miller, they do so as a matter of law and do not otherwise explain how these allegations, which are not contested on the instant Motion, do not “transcendí ] coarse, hostile[,] and boorish behavior.” Annis, 36 F.3d at 254; see also Atkinson v. N.Y. State Olympic Reg’l Dev. Auth., 822 F.Supp.2d 182, 191 (N.D.N.Y.2011) (same). The Court concludes that these troubling allegations are sufficient for a jury to find that Miller’s conduct was “independently sufficient to create a hostile work environment” to warrant individual liability under § 1983. Raspardo, 770 F.3d at 115; see also id. at 117-18 (holding that the “four principal incidents of [the defendant’s] behavior alleged by [the plaintiff], including unwanted physical contact and comments of a sexual nature in front of other officers, when combined with the ‘over ten occasions’ on which [the defendant] allegedly made comments about [the plaintiffs] body during the same one-year period, are sufficient to permit a jury to find a hostile work environment” pursuant to § 1983); cf. Atkinson, 822 F.Supp.2d at 192 (finding that allegations that an employer grabbed the plaintiff, touched her inappropriately, directed sexual gestures towards her, and “continuously made inappropriate remarks to her, including comments about his genitalia,” withstood a motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s § 1983 claim against the employer). Accordingly, Defendants’ Motion For Summary Judgment as to Plaintiffs § 1983 claim against Miller is denied. b. Section 1983 Claim Against Harris As to Plaintiffs § 1983 claim against Harris, “[i]ndividual liability under § 1983 in hostile work environment claims may also involve supervisory liability.” Raspardo, 770 F.3d at 116. “ ‘[B]ecause vicarious liability is inapplicable to § 1983 suits, a plaintiff must plead that each Government-official defendant, through the official’s own individual actions, has violated the Constitution.’ ” Id. (alteration omitted) (quoting Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 676, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009)). To establish that a supervisor was personally involved in the unconstitutional conduct, a plaintiff must show that: (1) the defendant participated directly' in the alleged constitutional violation, (2) the defendant, after being informed of the violation through a report or appeal, failed to remedy the wrong, (3) the defendant created a policy or custom under which unconstitutional practices occurred, or allowed the continuance of such a policy or custom, (4) the defendant was grossly negligent in supervising subordinates who committed the wrongful acts, or (5) the defendant exhibited deliberate indifference to the rights of [the plaintiff] by failing to act on information indicating that the unconstitutional acts were occurring. Colon v. Coughlin, 58 F.3d 865, 873 (2d Cir.1995). “In addition to satisfying one of these requirements, a plaintiff must also establish that the supervisor’s actions were the proximate cause of plaintiffs deprivation,” and that the “supervisor’s behavior constituted intentional discrimination on the basis of ... sex.” Raspardo, 770 F.3d at 116. In her Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Defendants’ Motion, Plaintiff fails to address her § 1983 claim against Harris. Indeed, in the portion of her brief addressing these claims, Plaintiff does not mention Harris. Defendants addressed Plaintiffs § 1983 claim against Harris in their Memorandum of Law, arguing that “Plaintiff ... cannot establish any ... bases for personal involvement with respect to Harris.” (Defs.’ Mem. of Law in Supp. of Their Mot. For Partial Summ. J. (“Defs.’ Mem.”) 8 (Dkt. No. 29).) Specifically, Defendants state that it is “undisputed that ... Harris did not participate in any of the sexual harassment alleged by Plaintiff!,] ... there is no evidence that [Harris] was aware of any of the alleged sexual harassment suffered by Plaintiff!,] ... [and] [i]nasmuch as she was unaware of such alleged harassment, there is also no evidence that ... [Harris] failed to take any steps to stop such sexual harassment.” (Id.) “ ‘Federal courts may deem a claim abandoned when a party moves for summary judgment on one ground and the party opposing summary judgment fails to address the argument in any way.’ ” Maher v. Alliance Mortg. Banking Corp., 650 F.Supp.2d 249, 267 (E.D.N.Y.2009 (quoting Taylor v. City of New York, 269 F.Supp.2d 68, 75 (E.D.N.Y.2003)). Here, as noted, Plaintiff did not respond to Defendants’ arguments on the § 1983 claim against Harris, and, therefore, the Court deems this claim abandoned and grants Defendants’ Motion as to this claim. See Carrillos v. Inc. Village of Hempstead, 87 F.Supp.3d 357, 380-81, 2015 WL 728244, at *14 (E.D.N.Y. Feb. 20, 2015) (explaining that the plaintiff did not address the claim under § 1983 for supervisory liability in her opposition and, therefore, the court “deem[ed] it abandoned”); Torres v. Nat’l R.R. Passenger Corp. d/b/a Amtrak, No. 13-CV-233, 2014 WL 338739, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 30, 2014) (granting summary judgment in favor of the defendant where the plaintiff “ha[d] not addressed or made any arguments in opposition to [the] [defendants’ motion for summary judgment” on one of the plaintiffs claims); Maher, 650 F.Supp.2d at 268 (granting the defendant’s motion for summary judgment on the plaintiffs retaliation claim because the plaintiff “failed to address any of [the] [defendant’s arguments regarding th[e] claim ... [and] therefore [the court] deemfed] [the] [p]laintiffs retaliation claim abandoned”); Brodsky ex rel. S.B. v. Trumbull Bd. of Educ., No. 06-CV-1947, 2009 WL 280708, at *9 (D.Conn. Jan. 30, 2009) (granting the defendants’ motion for summary judgment where the plaintiffs failed to address the defendants’ arguments with respect to the plaintiffs’ First Amendment, malicious prosecution, and statutory claims on the grounds that the “[plaintiffs’ failure to address [the defendants’] arguments in their opposition papers constitutes abandonment of the claims”); cf. Felske v. Hirschmann, No. 10-CV-8899, 2012 WL 716632, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 1, 2012) (“A plaintiff effectively concedes a defendant’s arguments by his [or her] failure to respond to them.”'). 3. Section 1983 Liability for Retaliation Defendants argue that “[t]o the extent Plaintiff attempts to base her Section 1983 claim on the alleged retaliation, it necessarily fails ... against all Defendants.” (Defs.’ Mem. 3.) To begin, it is not clear whether a plaintiff may bring a claim for retaliation pursuant to § 1983. In Bernheim v. Litt, 79 F.3d 318 (2d Cir.1996), the Second Circuit observed that “we know of no court that has recognized a claim under the equal protection clause for retaliation following complaints of racial discrimination,” and accordingly held that “[g]iven the availability of Title VII, ... we see no reason to break new constitutional ground.” Id. at 323. In Hicks v. Baines, 593 F.3d 159 (2d Cir.2010), however, the Second Circuit allowed a § 1983 claim to proceed on an equal protection theory because “[t]he premise of [the] lawsuit [was] that plaintiffs were treated differently— that is, they suffered retaliation — on the basis of their participation in discrimination investigations and proceedings.” Id. at 171. “ Hicks did not cite to or discuss Bernheim, and district courts within [the Second Circuit] have since noted that the viability of a § 1983 retaliation claim based on an equal protection theory remains unclear.’” Giscombe v. N.Y.C. Dep’t of