Castillo v. Schriro

In December 2010, the New York City Department of Correction (the department) hired Jenny Castillo (plaintiff) as a night-shift correctional officer for a two-year probationary period. In April 2012, Castillo requested to switch to the daytime shift. The department denied Castillo’s request. Eventually, Castillo disclosed to the department’s health division that she was a domestic-violence victim and was afraid to leave her children alone with her perpetrator at night. The health division referred Castillo to counseling within the department. The counseling service suggested that Castillo obtain a protective order and told Castillo that her supervisor would be informed of her status as domestic-violence victim. Although the department’s policy was to refer domestic-violence victims to the Equal Employment Opportunity Office to determine reasonable employment accommodations, the department failed to refer Castillo. In February 2012, the department notified Castillo that she had been labeled as chronically absent. On May 21, the department deemed Castillo as absent without leave, even though Castillo had notified her superior that she had to appear in family court and provided a copy of the court-issued temporary protective order she had obtained. On August 22, the department terminated Castillo’s employment. Castillo sued the department, Correction Commissioner Dora Schriro, and the city of New York (collectively, the department) (defendants) in federal district court. Castillo alleged that the department had violated the New York City Human Rights Law (the law), under which domestic-violence victims were protected from employment discrimination. Castillo sought for her termination to be vacated, to be rehired, and to receive backpay and benefits. The department argued that Castillo was a probationary employee and could be terminated for any reason. The department also claimed it was unaware of Castillo’s status as a domestic-violence victim because the information Castillo had disclosed to the health division was confidential.