Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, DISCRIMINATION—DISABILITY—S.D.N.Y.: Executive chef, fired following workplace knee injury, gets trial on most claims, (Nov 18, 2025)

By Jason Albright, J.D.

The general manager of one of the chef’s restaurants had previously complained that he verbally abused her and “countermanded [her] directions” in front of other staff.

An executive chef for two New Paltz, New York restaurants, fired after he took workers’ compensation leave for a workplace knee injury, may proceed to trial on his ADA and New York disability discrimination, failure to accommodate, and retaliation claims, a federal district court in New York found. Although there was evidence that an owner of the restaurants was dissatisfied with the chef’s performance well before his injury and had been looking for a replacement, the chef testified that the owner said, “maybe I’ll fire you when you’re Workers’ Comp,” which a jury could view as evidence of a discriminatory motive. The chef previously withdrew his FMLA claims (Paige v. Garvan’s Rock and Rye, LLC, No. 24cv3189 (DLC) (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 14, 2025)).

Executive chef. The plaintiff, according to the court, was employed as the executive chef at Garvan’s, a restaurant in New Paltz, New York, from February 2016 until his employment was terminated on August 30, 2022. During that time the chef also occasionally worked at Garvan’s sister restaurant, Maggie Mae’s, which is also in New Paltz. Both restaurants, in turn are managed by a majority owner and namesake of the first one.

Declining performance? The restaurants and owner argue that, though the chef initially performed well in his role, his engagement gradually declined until, by 2018, he was only working at Garvan’s once a week. They also allege that the chef became unwilling to make changes to the menu and did not run specials as often as the owner felt was appropriate.

General manager’s complaints. The general manager of Garvan’s complained to the owner on February 1, 2022 that the chef had created a hostile work environment in January. According to her, the chef verbally abused her, “countermanded [her] directions” in front of other staff, and was otherwise demeaning toward her.

Die was cast? The owner testified that he had already been planning to terminate the chef’s employment, and that the general manager’s complaint was a “final straw.”

Indeed, On February 2, the owner offered the chef’s position via text message to another chef, who did not accept the offer. The owner asserted that he pursued other potential replacements for the chef during the spring and summer of 2022.

Workplace knee injury and leave conversation. On May 8, the chef injured his right knee at work. He testified that he had a conversation with the owner in which he noted that he was planning to take worker compensation’s leave and that the owner said, “maybe I’ll fire you when you’re Workers’ Comp.”

Leave. The chef was seen by a physician on July 26 and, following that visit, he gave the employers a note from his physician excusing him from work for six weeks. He began his workers’ compensation leave on August 3, but he contended that he continued to work during that time, both on administrative tasks from home and by coming into Garvan’s about once a week.

Discharge. On August 30, the owner fired him. He handed the chef a termination letter that referenced past discussions about “differing visions for Garvan’s” and the chef’s “management of the kitchen.”

Lawsuit and motion for summary judgment. The chef sued Garvan’s Rock and Rye, LLC, Maggie Mae’s, LLC, and the owner, alleging discrimination, failure to accommodate, and retaliation under the ADA and the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL), as well as interference and retaliation under the FMLA. Following the close of discovery, the defendants moved for summary judgment, and in his opposition motion, the chef withdrew his FMLA claims.

Disability discrimination. The court first found that the chef established a prima facie case of disability discrimination under the ADA and NYSHRL. Although the parties disputed precisely when he reported his knee injury to the defendants, they agree that he discussed it with the owner on June 27, 2022. He then obtained a doctor’s note on July 26 that excused him from work for six weeks, and he began his worker’s compensation leave on August 3. His employment was terminated on August 30. “The temporal proximity of these events,” the court noted, “provides enough evidence of causation to carry the low burden of establishing a prima facie case of disability discrimination.”

And although the defendants provided evidence that the owner was dissatisfied with the chef’s performance well before his injury in May 2022, the chef provided evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude that his injury was at least a motivating factor in the decision to fire him. The defendants argued that temporal proximity alone was not sufficient evidence of pretext, but the evidence was not limited to temporal proximity. The chef, for example, testified that the owner said, “maybe I’ll fire you when you’re Workers’ Comp,” which a jury could view as evidence of a discriminatory motive, the court concluded.

Failure to accommodate. The chef’s failure to accommodate claims likewise warranted trial. These claims, premised on the employer’s choice to terminate the chef rather than make accommodations that would allow him more time to heal from his injury, “appear to be coextensive with the disability discrimination claims,” concluded the court. Here, the defendants did not directly seek to dismiss the failure to accommodate claims, and “To the extent their challenges to the disability discrimination claims have applicability to the failure to accommodate claims, they fail here for the same reasons.”

Retaliation. Likewise, the court concluded that the same evidence sustaining the chef’s claims of disability discrimination also sustained his claims of retaliation. The temporal proximity between the chef beginning his worker’s compensation leave on August 3 and his discharge on August 30 was sufficient to meet his low burden to establish a prima facie case of retaliation under the ADA and the NYSHRL. And again, though the defendants provided evidence of a legitimate, nonretaliatory reason for firing the chef, he provided evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude that that reason was pretextual.

The defendants’ motion for summary judgment was accordingly granted with respect to the chef’s FMLA claims but otherwise denied.

The case is No. 24cv3189 (DLC).

Judge: Cote, D.

Attorneys: H. Joseph Cronen (Charny & Wheeler) for Joshua Paige. Robert F. Rich, Jr. (Law Offices of Robert F. Rich, Jr.) for Garvan’s Rock and Rye, LLC, Maggie Mae’s, LLC, and Garvan McCloskey.

Companies: Garvan’s Rock and Rye, LLC; Maggie Mae’s, LLC

Cases: Discrimination DisabilityDiscrimination Retaliation EmployeeLeave Discharge NewYorkNews