How Do I Find the Best Discrimination Attorney in New York?

Employment Lawyers Representing Aggrieved Workers in New York City

Federal, state, and local laws prohibit workplace discrimination on the basis of certain protected characteristics. Discrimination happens if you are unfairly treated in connection with an employment decision, such as hiring, firing, layoffs, promotions, compensation, or retirement. If you believe that you have been subjected to discrimination, you should consult the New York City discrimination attorneys at Phillips & Associates. Following are Frequently Asked Questions about how to find the best discrimination attorney in New York.

How do I Find the Best Discrimination Attorney in New York?

You should find an attorney who has experience handling lawsuits arising out of the type of discrimination that you have faced in the workplace. Protected characteristics in New York City include race, sex, national origin, age, citizenship, disability, color, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy, religion, and national origin. New York City has a broad anti-discrimination law.

However, not every characteristic protected by New York's Human Rights Law is also protected under state or federal law. For example, Title VII prohibits sex discrimination in the workplace, but it does not explicitly prohibit sexual orientation discrimination. Similarly, in New York City, you are protected against discrimination based on credit history or status as a victim of domestic violence. This same protection is not available under federal law. Your attorney should understand the differences between federal, state, and local laws and have experience pursuing cases of your type.

Discrimination is any adverse employment action taken due to an employee's protected characteristic. For example, disability discrimination occurs when an employer treats a worker differently from other workers due to a disability. This could include permitting the worker to be harassed by coworkers based on a disability.

Am I Guaranteed a Recovery if I Work With the Best Discrimination Attorney?

No. No attorney can or should guarantee you a recovery of damages. Each case is unique, and the dynamics of juries have an element of unpredictability. Juries respond differently to different plaintiffs and defendants. However, if you work with an experienced employment discrimination attorney who regularly engages in discovery and goes to trial on the issues that you face in your case, you have a better chance of recovering your damages. Attorneys who are more experienced are better able to evaluate what a case is worth by comparing the case to other similar cases that they have tried or settled, or that they have observed other employment litigators try or settle. They will also have a stronger sense of which defenses are likely to be raised, and they should have experience developing strategies to defeat common defenses put forward by employers.

What are Characteristics of the Best Discrimination Attorneys?

Good discrimination attorneys will want to hear all of the details of what happened to you, and you should feel comfortable telling them what happened. Even small facts can have a significant impact on the outcome of your employment discrimination lawsuit. There are no details that you should leave out. Information that you believe makes your case weaker can sometimes be managed or even used in your favor.

For example, if your boss repeatedly propositioned you for sex at work and at a holiday party, it is important to disclose all of the related details to your employer, such as how you responded. If you initially smiled in response, you should tell your attorney even if you are worried that it makes your case weaker. This is because there are ways to handle information that does not work in your favor, but the only way to address negative information is by knowing about it ahead of it coming out in the lawsuit and preparing adequately. Many people do smile or avoid telling a harasser that they are made uncomfortable by the harassment initially because they are shocked at what has happened, and they fall back on habitual behavior when faced with the unexpected. This does not necessarily mean that they welcomed the behavior, and in many cases, they may explicitly state that the conduct is unwelcome later. We need to know all of the information about your case to prepare your case for trial.

At Phillips & Associates, we may be able to help you if you are concerned about finding the best discrimination attorney in New York City. We fight employment discrimination and harassment in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Staten Island, as well as Nassau and Suffolk Counties, Westchester County, and New Jersey. Contact us at (866) 229-9441 or through our online form.