In Forrest v. Jewish Guild for the Blind, 3 NY3d 295 (2004), the court summarized the rules in an employment discrimination action as follows (p. 305): A plaintiff alleging ... discrimination in employment has the initial burden to establish a prima facie case of discrimination. To meet this burden, plaintiff must show that: (1) she is a member of a protected class; (2) she was qualified to hold the position; (3) she was terminated from employment or suffered another adverse employment action; (4) the discharge or other adverse action occurred under circumstances giving rise to an inference of discrimination. The burden then shifts to the employer to rebut the presumption of discrimination by clearly setting forth, through the introduction of admissible evidence, legitimate, independent, and nondiscriminatory reasons to support its employment decision. In order to nevertheless succeed on her claim, the plaintiff must prove that the legitimate reasons proffered by the defendant were merely a pretext for discrimination by demonstrating both that the stated reasons were false and that discrimination was the real reason. "To prevail on their summary judgment motion, defendants must demonstrate either plaintiff's failure to establish every element of intentional discrimination, or, have offered legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for their challenged actions, the absence of a material issue of fact as to whether their expla-nations were pretextual. The Court of Appeals concluded that a plaintiff's "alleged mistreatment suffered at the hands of her supervisor" did not "rise to the level of adverse action as defined by law" (see id. at 307.) The Court cited with approval federal district court opinions in which "excessive work, denials or requests for leave without pay and a supervisor's general negative treatment of the plaintiff" were found "not materially adverse changes in the terms, conditions or privileges of employment" (see id.)