Eugene Margerum, Appellants-Respondents v. City of Buffalo, Respondents-Appellants

Summary

The Court held that a notice of claim is not required to bring a New York Human Rights Law claim against a municipality and that summary judgment on liability for alleged reverse discrimination was improper. Accordingly, the order granting summary judgment was vacated and the case remanded for further proceedings. The Court applied the Supreme Court’s Ricci “strong basis in evidence” standard to the state claim. A concurrence and a partial dissent were filed, the latter rejecting the application of Ricci.