NEW YORK (LN) — The Appellate Division, First Department, unanimously reversed a Supreme Court order dismissing discrimination claims against a Park Avenue cooperative corporation and its managing agent, reinstating the suit brought by a black nurse practitioner who alleged she was denied a unit based on her race and gender.
The panel held that plaintiff Kareen Forrester’s complaint contained sufficient allegations under New York’s lenient notice pleading standard to survive a motion to dismiss. The court held that Forrester adequately alleged that 640 Park Avenue Corporation and Brown Harris Stevens Residential Management, LLC were sufficiently involved not to sell the unit to her.
Forrester contracted to buy the cooperative apartment from Wellington Tichenor, a doctor, in 2023. The unit had sat on the market for two years prior to the agreement. Forrester, a nurse practitioner, intended to use the space for her medical business. A senior account executive from Brown Harris Stevens Residential Management confirmed to Tichenor that the unit could be used by a medical professional licensed in New York without a doctor’s supervision.
After Forrester paid the down payment, Tichenor’s attorney advised her that he did not wish to proceed with the sale. Tichenor subsequently sold the unit to Glenn Fuhrman, a white male who was not a medical professional but served on the cooperative’s board of directors.
The complaint alleged that Forrester was qualified to purchase the unit but was rejected in favor of Fuhrman, giving rise to an inference of discrimination under Executive Law Section 296. The First Department noted that principals may be liable for the tortious acts of their agents, including discrimination.
The court rejected the lower court’s reliance on evidence that Brown Harris Stevens Sales, LLC, rather than the managing agent, was the brokerage involved. The panel held that this evidence did not flatly contradict the complaint’s allegations. Forrester is entitled to discovery to determine whether the two entities are the same or sufficiently related.
The panel included Presiding Justice Manzanet-Daniels and Justices Kapnick, Rodriguez and Pitt-Burke.