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1
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OPINION
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EXTRACTED KEY WORDS
DEFENDANTS DISCRIMINATION EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT EXECUTIVE LAW BOYCOTT INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR INSURANCE YORK COMMERCE BLACKLISTING STATUTE TERMINATION ALLEGES INSURANCE COMPANY RESPONDENT AGENTS AGENCY SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTION AD2D BUSINESS TRADE AFFIRM PROTECTIONS HUMAN RIGHTS DISMISSING DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICE RESIDENT |
Marilyn G. Scott, Appellant, v. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
et al., Respondents..
86 N.Y.2d 429, 657 N.E.2d 769, 633 N.Y.S.2d 754
October 19, 1995
(Case Commentary by Editorial Board)
4 No. 210 (1995 NY Int. 206)
Decided October 19, 1995
_________________________________________________________________
This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication
in the New York Reports.
Nira T. Kermisch, for Appellant.
Marian Blankopf, for Respondent insurance company.
Mark L. Suher, for individual Respondent.
TITONE, J.:
Plaintiff insurance agent brought a discrimination claim against
defendant insurance company for termination of her agency contract
allegedly on the basis of her gender, age and marital status. The
question before us is whether the suit may be predicated on Executive
Law § 296(1)(a), which prohibits discrimination in employment, or
under section 296(13), which prohibits discrimination in commerce or
trade. For the following reasons, we affirm the holdings of the courts
below that plaintiff could not avail herself of the protections of
either section under the circumstances of this case.
Defendant G. James Blatt runs a "general agency" through which he
markets the insurance products of defendant Massachusetts Mutual Life
Insurance Company. In 1979, defendant Blatt hired plaintiff Marilyn
Scott as an insurance agent under a Career Contract. In 1987,
plaintiff became a District Manager responsible for running a separate
agency for defendant at a new location and for recruiting insurance
agents to expand the company's markets. The agreement contained in the
Career Contract executed by the parties in 1985 stated that "(n)othing
in this contract shall be construed as creating the relationship of
employer and employee between" defendants and plaintiff. Both the
Career Contract and the District Manager contract were terminable at
will by either party.
Defendant Blatt terminated plaintiff's Career Contract and Series 6
License to sell certain mutual funds and annuities in June 1992.
Plaintiff then commenced this action in December 1992 against both
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