The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has dismissed all claims brought against Cornell University by a former senior extension associate, Francine Moccio, of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR).

Moccio had claimed that she was discriminated against based on her gender and age and retaliated against when Cornell notified her that she was one of 17 employees who would lose employment as part of the 2008 downsizing of ILR's extension division. She had been hired in 1990 as director of ILR's Institute for Women and Work (IWW) and worked in the New York City extension office until her employment ended in June 2009.

On Aug. 27, U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer granted Cornell University's motion for summary dismissal of all of Moccio's claims, determining that Moccio "failed to present evidence sufficient to permit a reasonable jury to find that her termination was the product, in whole or part, of discrimination."

He also noted that the other complaints of alleged unfair treatment she cited, including signing a Flexplace agreement and registering as a lobbyist, were applied to other extension staff, including men, and were not of discriminatory or retaliatory intent.

Moccio and 16 other ILR Extension employees lost their positions when ILR School Dean Harry Katz decided to dissolve the Workforce Industry and Economic Development (WIED) group, of which the IWW was a part, and to downsize other units of ILR Extension. Engelmayer said: "There is overwhelming evidence that the ILR terminated Moccio's employment not because of factors particular to her, but as part of a broader workforce reduction caused by budgetary constraints which resulted in the elimination of the entire eight-member WIED group." Moccio also failed to present any evidence that the reasons given for her termination were "a pretext for unlawful retaliation," he said.

"We are pleased by the decision of the court," said Katz. "The judge wrote a clear and detailed decision, clarifying through 81 pages of meticulous analysis that no discrimination or retaliation influenced our decisions."

Katz said that the ILR School, like the rest of Cornell, went through a difficult budgetary phase in the years between 2006 and 2009. "It was hard to decide to layoff people, and we consulted extensively with the university's human resource and counsel's offices," he said, adding, "We strove to be careful, deliberate and fair in our determinations."

Wendy Tarlow, associate university counsel, concurred. "We were pleased that the court thoroughly examined the allegations and found them to be wholly without merit. To the contrary, the court found overwhelming evidence that the university acted fairly and appropriately during a very difficult economic time," she said.