Wyche v. New York State Board of Law Examiners

Filing 32

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER regarding 30 Motion to Seal and 16 Motion to Dismiss; The Court declines, however, to order the blanket sealing of documents T. W. requests,including the complaint. To protect the public interest in access to court document s and filings,the Court directs the clerk to amend the caption and other docket entries to reflect Plaintiff initials and to temporarily seal the complaint and briefing on the motion to dismiss to allow the parties to propose limited redactions to pr otect the personal privacy of Plaintiff. Defendants' motion to dismiss is granted in part. The Court dismisses T.W.'s claims under Title III of the ADA and the NYCHRL, and her individual capacity claims against the chair and members of the Board. The Court defers ruling on the application of Defendants'sovereign immunity defense to T.W.'s claims under Title II of the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act until T.W. has an opportunity to conduct limited discovery into the Board's possible waiver of its sovereign immunity under the Rehabilitation Act. Ordered by Judge Raymond J. Dearie on 9/25/2017. (Piper, Francine)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

T.W.,

Plaintiff,

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

16-CV-3029(RJD)
(RLM)

- against NEW YORK STATE BOARD OF LAW

EXAMINERS; JOHN J. MCALARY
DIANE BOSSE; BRYAN WILLIAMS
ROBERT MCMILLEN;E. LEO MILONAS
and MICHAEL COLODNER,

FILED
IN CLERK'S OFRCE
US DISTRICT COURT E.D.N.Y.

5 SEP 26 2017 *
BROOKLYN OFFICE

Defendants.

DEARIE, District Judge

Plaintiff T.W. alleges that the New York State Board of Law Examiners("the Board"),
its chair, and individual members discriminated against her on the basis of a disability when they

denied in large part her requests for accommodations for the July 2013 and July 2014 New York
State Bar exams. Defendants move to dismiss arguing that T.W.'s claims are barred by New

York's sovereign immunity under the Eleventh Amendment. After Defendants' motion was
briefed, T.W. filed a motion requesting that certain filings containing her name be sealed and that
the case caption be amended to reflect only her initials.

Defendants' motion to dismiss is granted as to T.W.'s claims under Title III of the
Americans with Disabilities Act("ADA"),42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seq., and the New York City

Human Rights Law("NYCHRL"),N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-107, as well as her claims against
the chair and members of the Board in their individual capacities. The Court defers ruling on
Defendants' motion to dismiss T.W.'s claims under Title II of the ADA and Section 504 of the

Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794, until Plaintiff has an opportunity to conduct limited

s/Raymond Dearie