New York State Human Rights Law Category Archives — Sexual Harassment Lawyer Blawg Published by New York Sexual Harassment Attorneys

EEOC Charge: A Pfizer employee who helped develop blockbuster migraine drug Nurtec was denied accommodation for her migraine, and FIRED

November 12, 2025 | by Employment Law Firm

Pfizer, manufacturer of blockbuster migraine drug Nurtec, claims that as you would expect, it is a “safe space” for its own employees who suffer from migraine: “remote options can help employees retain their productivity while prioritizing their health.” But a Charge filed by “Jennifer” with the EEOC tells another story. Jennifer was a member of the team which created Pfizer’s $ 1 billion cash cow Nurtec. Jennifer was herself diagnosed with chronic migraine in 2020. For the next four years Jennifer worked remotely while helping to develop and market Nurtec. Remote work allowed her to be productive and help other migraine sufferers who now depend on Nurtec.

In January 2024 Pfizer announced that all US employees were required to spend 2.5 days a week in the office. Given Pfizer’s published guidance that “remote options can help employees [suffering from migraine] retain their productivity while prioritizing their health,” her success on Nurtec working remotely for four years, and the fact that her working from home cost Pfizer zero, Jennifer expected that her requested accommodation–continuing to work remotely–would be granted. Pfizer’s response was: “If you are experiencing frequent migraines, then you are not able to work even while at home and should file for an STD or FMLA.” This was obviously false since Pfizer had benefitted from her four productive years working from home.

Jennifer’s neurologist was also a contracted Pfizer expert. She asked him to explain to Pfizer why working from home was a necessary accommodation. He wrote to Pfizer that the ADA requires the accommodation, and that “The American Migraine Foundation … recommends remote work as an accommodation and this accommodation is reasonable and necessary for her continued employment.” Pfizer’s Disability/ADA Appeal team responded that:

Employee Files Federal Suit Alleging She Was Sexually Harassed at CVS–And Only Her Father Finally Stopped It

June 12, 2025 | by Employment Law Firm

A young woman has filed a Complaint in federal court alleging that she was sexually and racially harassed by an older man while she worked as a cashier at the CVS in Port Jefferson, New York, beginning in August of 2021. The following allegations are taken from the filed Complaint.

Her harasser, a CVS employee, touched her breast, lured her into a back room and cornered her, told her he knew spots where there were no security cameras and implied he could do whatever he wanted to her.

By February 2022 she had told Human Resources what the man was doing to her including that he had touched her breast. But CVS kept scheduling her for shifts alone with him, and he kept doing the same things, even while other people were there. She tried again to stop him, this time complaining to her supervisor in the store, but it still didn’t stop.

Is someone at Coach Protecting an alleged Sexual Harasser?

November 8, 2024 | by Employment Law Firm

Todd Khan, Coach CEO

In a statement under oath a Coach employee testifies that Coach CEO Todd Khan and other top Coach executives are friendly with Luis Anzola, who is the subject of a Charge of sexual harassment filed with the EEOC:

3. Top executives at Coach, including CEO Todd Khan, treated Mr. Anzola as a personal friend. When they visited the store, they made a point to seek out Mr. Anzola to chat with him as soon as they entered the store. They appeared friendly and Mr. Anzola told me that they were.

A Charge of Discrimination alleges Sexual Harassment of Employees and Customers at Coach’s Flagship Store

September 6, 2024 | by Employment Law Firm

Sexual harassment has run rampant at a Coach store in NYC, according to a Charge of Discrimination filed recently by a former employee.

Tapestry, Inc. is a global fashion holding company headquartered in New York City. Its luxury brands include Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman. Tapestry’s sexual harassment policy is illegal: it lacks the most important protections provided under NYS law, and for years Tapestry has been ignoring complaints by women that Luis Anzola, a Craftsman who has worked at Coach for three decades at their flagship store (“the pinnacle of the Coach experience”), has been sexually harassing them.

A young woman who started at Coach when she was just 23 years old, and member of Gen Z — the very demographic that Coach is desperate to attract — has filed a Charge of Discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. It alleges that over a period of a year and a half, she made four separate complaints to the Store Manager, to Human Resources and finally to Coach’s District Manager, Brian Glass. She told them that Anzola was following her around, coming on to her, and touching her, and that he would spend up to a half hour at her workstation, staring at her and not working. Her first Store Manager agreed the behavior was unprofessional and unacceptable, and would not be tolerated. But although management assured her that it would stop, it never did.