​Victoria Silva (Of Counsel-Madison, NJ) and Andrew Heck (Partner-Madison, NJ) secured dismissal of discrimination claims against Wilson Elser’s security services client in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. The plaintiff, a visually impaired African American woman who participated as a trainee in a workforce program at a New Jersey career center, alleged that a security professional employed by the client subjected her to racially hostile conduct and that she experienced retaliation after filing an EEOC charge. She brought claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD), and Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act.

The case had an involved procedural history. In November 2025, the district court judge granted our client’s motion to dismiss the first amended complaint without prejudice, allowing the plaintiff thirty days to replead. Instead, the plaintiff filed a separate parallel action in New Jersey state court and a second amended complaint in federal court. After moving both matters back before the same district court judge and securing the dismissal of the duplicative state action, Victoria and Andrew moved to dismiss the second amended complaint in lieu of filing an answer.

Wilson Elser’s arguments in support of the motion centered on three key points: (1) the plaintiff had no employer-employee relationship with the client, defeating her ADA and NJLAD claims; (2) the plaintiff failed to exhaust her administrative remedies because she never filed an EEOC charge against the client; and (3) the plaintiff’s Section 1981 claim failed because she could not establish that she was an intended third-party beneficiary of the client’s security services contract with the State.

The court agreed with the defense on all three points, granted the renewed motion to dismiss with prejudice, and found that further amendment would be futile. The case is now closed.