Law360, New York (September 24, 2015, 9:55 PM EDT) -- In a string of recent cases, the Second Circuit has clarified that Ashcroft v. Iqbal[1] applies, in modified form, to evaluating the sufficiency of complaints in the employment discrimination context, which hitherto had been an open question. Before unpacking these cases, however, it is worthwhile to recap the U.S. Supreme Court's jurisprudence in this area. In Swierkiewicz v. Sorema NA,[2] the court held that an employment discrimination complaint need not contain specific facts establishing a prima facie case under the evidentiary standard set forth in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green.[3] Rather, the complaint need only contain "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief" under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2), and need only "give the defendant fair notice of what the plaintiff's claim is and the grounds upon which it rests."[4] In so holding, the Swierkiewicz court relied on the long-used minimal pleading standard adopted in Conley v. Gibon[5] — a court may not dismiss a complaint "unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief."[6]...