Suit against Shelter Island hotel can proceed, court rules

A federal judge in Manhattan has given the go-ahead to a lawsuit claiming the owner of Shelter Island's Sunset Beach Hotel refused to hire a woman because her son had a disability.

In the suit, Karen Anderson alleges owner Andre Balazs rejected her for a job as controller after she disclosed she had a disabled son living independently and receiving nursing care in Maine, saying it would prevent her from giving adequate time to work.

The hotel moved to dismiss the case because it was brought under New York City's human-rights law, and the interview occurred on Shelter Island.

But U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain ruled that since the job would have called for Anderson to spend five months on Shelter Island and seven in the city, there was an adequate legal basis for the suit to continue. The judge made no findings of liability.

Swain said Anderson also intends to file a federal discrimination claim after receiving clearance from the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The suit was filed in January, and Swain ruled Monday. The ruling first was reported by the New York Post.