IN RE: KT'S JUNCTION (2010)

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Proceeding pursuant to Executive Law § 298 (transferred to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the Fourth Judicial Department by order of the Supreme Court, Onondaga County [Donald A. Greenwood, J.], entered January 6, 2010) to annul a determination of respondent.   The determination, inter alia, found that petitioner had unlawfully discriminated against complainant.

It is hereby ORDERED that the determination is unanimously modified on the law and the petition is granted in part by reducing the award of compensatory damages for mental anguish to $5,000 and as modified the determination is confirmed without costs.

We agree with petitioner, however, that the award of $10,000 for mental anguish is not supported by the evidence.  “In reviewing such an award, we must ‘determine[, inter alia,] whether the relief was reasonably related to the wrongdoing[ and] whether the award was supported by evidence before [the SDHR]’ “ (Matter of Anagnostakos v New York State Div. of Human Rights, 46 AD3d 992, 994, quoting Matter of New York City Tr. Auth. v State Div. of Human Rights, 78 N.Y.2d 207, 219), and that is not the case here.   The evidence of mental anguish experienced by the complainant consisted of her testimony at the hearing that she was diagnosed with depression or anxiety as a result of the reduction in her hours of employment and that she suffered from high blood pressure.   The complainant was suffering from high blood pressure at the time of the hearing, however, and there is no evidence that her condition was related to the reduction in her hours of employment or her termination.   In addition, the complainant obtained an offer of employment following the birth of her child and, at most, her mental anguish would have been limited to the brief period of time when she was not collecting unemployment or disability benefits.   In light of the nonspecific nature of the complainant's mental distress, we conclude that the maximum award for mental anguish supported by the evidence is $5,000 (see generally Matter of Diaz Chem. Corp. v New York State Div. of Human Rights, 237 A.D.2d 932, 933, affd 91 N.Y.2d 932;  Matter of New York State Tug Hill Commn. v New York State Div. of Human Rights, 52 AD3d 1169, 1171-1172).   We therefore modify the determination accordingly.

Patricia L. Morgan

Clerk of the Court