Brooklyn Sexual Harassment Lawyer
Representing Employees Harassed at Work in Brooklyn and Throughout New York City
Phillips & Associates, PLLC represents employees only and has never represented employers. If you are being sexually harassed at a job in Brooklyn, you may be protected by three separate laws at once, and the New York City Human Rights Law is the most protective of the three. Consultations are free and confidential, and the firm works on contingency, which means no attorney fees unless we recover for you.
Contact our sexual harassment lawyer in Brooklyn for a free initial consultation today at (866) 229-9441.
Quick Answer
Sexual harassment at a Brooklyn workplace is unlawful under Title VII, the New York State Human Rights Law, and the New York City Human Rights Law. The standards are not the same. Federal law requires conduct that is severe or pervasive. New York State and New York City law do not, which means conduct that would fail a federal claim can still support a claim here.
Because Brooklyn is within New York City, employees working there get the broadest protection available anywhere in the country.
Key Takeaways
- Brooklyn workplaces are covered by the New York City Human Rights Law, which does not require severe or pervasive conduct.
- The question under City law is whether you were treated less well because of sex or gender, subject to a petty slights defense.
- The City law applies to employers with four or more employees, and that threshold does not apply at all to gender-based harassment claims.
- A supervisor's harassment that results in a firing, demotion, or pay cut generally makes the employer liable.
- Individual harassers can be named personally under the State and City laws.
- Retaliation for reporting is a separate claim that can succeed even when the harassment claim is disputed.
What Counts as Sexual Harassment?
Sexual harassment is unwelcome conduct based on sex or gender that affects your employment or your working conditions. It includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, sexual comments, and unwanted touching.
The conduct does not have to be sexual to qualify. Hostility, exclusion, or demeaning treatment directed at you because of your sex or gender can also violate the law. Victims and harassers can be of any gender, and same-sex harassment is covered.
The two main categories are quid pro quo harassment, where a job benefit is tied to sexual conduct, and hostile work environment, where the conduct changes your working conditions. Most real cases involve both.
Which Law Protects You in Brooklyn?
This is where Brooklyn employees have a real advantage, and where most general guidance gets it wrong.
New York City Human Rights Law
Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs, so the City law applies. It is the most protective of the three. You do not have to prove the conduct was severe or pervasive. The question is whether you were treated less well than other employees because of sex or gender, subject to the employer's defense that the conduct amounted to no more than petty slights or trivial inconveniences.
It generally applies to employers with four or more employees, and that threshold does not apply to gender-based harassment claims, including sexual harassment. Even a very small Brooklyn business can be covered. The law also reaches harassment by customers, clients, patients, and vendors when the employer knew or should have known and failed to act.
New York State Human Rights Law
The State law covers employers of every size anywhere in New York. Since the 2019 amendments it no longer requires severe or pervasive conduct. Harassment is unlawful when you are subjected to inferior terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of sex or gender, with petty slights and trivial inconveniences excluded. It also protects certain non-employees, including contractors, consultants, and vendors working at a job site.
Title VII
The federal law applies to employers with 15 or more employees and does require conduct that is severe or pervasive. Before suing under Title VII you generally must file a charge with the EEOC, and in New York that charge is usually due within 300 days of the conduct.
Who Is Liable?
Liability depends on who harassed you and what happened next.
When a supervisor's harassment results in a tangible job action such as firing, demotion, or a pay cut, the employer is generally responsible under federal law. Where no tangible action occurred, the employer can raise an affirmative defense, and it must prove both halves: that it took reasonable steps to prevent and promptly correct the harassment, and that you unreasonably failed to use the process it made available. Failing either half defeats the defense.
For harassment by a coworker, the employer is liable if it knew or should have known and did not act. The New York City Human Rights Law goes further, holding employers responsible for the conduct of managerial and supervisory employees, and allowing individual harassers to be named personally.
Most of this firm's sexual harassment cases involve a supervisor or a business owner rather than a coworker. See supervisor sexual harassment and co-worker sexual harassment.
Brooklyn Workplaces and Brooklyn Courts
Brooklyn is not a single kind of workplace. The firm has represented employees at healthcare employers, restaurants and bars, retail and warehouse operations, construction and trades, schools, salons, medical and dental practices, and small offices where the owner is also the harasser. Smaller workplaces are where harassment often goes unchecked, because there is no HR department and no one above the person responsible.
Brooklyn cases are typically brought in Kings County Supreme Court or in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, whose courthouse sits at Cadman Plaza in downtown Brooklyn. Phillips & Associates, PLLC litigates in both regularly, including the federal harassment and retaliation matters described on the firm's precedents and decisions page.
What to Do If It Is Happening to You
- Write down what happened, with dates, locations, what was said, and who saw it.
- Preserve texts, emails, direct messages, voicemails, and chat records, and keep copies somewhere you control rather than only on a work account.
- Save performance reviews, schedules, and pay records from before and after the conduct or your complaint.
- Note anyone who witnessed the conduct or experienced similar treatment.
- Do not delete communications, and do not take confidential company documents you are not authorized to have.
- Get legal advice before you resign or sign a severance agreement, a release, or an NDA. New York limits nondisclosure terms in sexual harassment settlements.
Reporting to HR is not required before you speak with a lawyer. HR represents the employer, and an internal finding that a complaint was unsubstantiated does not decide whether the law was broken.
Retaliation After You Report
Retaliation is punishment for protected activity, including reporting harassment, refusing advances, or supporting a coworker's complaint. It is a separate claim from harassment and can succeed even when the employer disputes the underlying conduct, as long as you had a reasonable, good-faith belief that what you reported was unlawful.
Under the New York City Human Rights Law, conduct qualifies as retaliation if it is reasonably likely to deter a person from complaining, which reaches actions that never touch your pay or title.
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$2,000,000 Sexual Harassment
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$3,375,000 Sexual Harassment
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$975,000 Sexual Harassment & Retaliation
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$5,000,000+ Gender and National Origin Discrimination
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$2,200,000 Race Discrimination & Retaliation
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$1,400,000 Religious & Sexual Orientation Discrimination
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$1,800,000 Race Discrimination
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$3,000,000 Gender Discrimination & Sexual Harassment
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$5,000,000+ Sexual Harassment and Quid Pro Quo
Why Clients Trust Us
Championing Your Rights With Unmatched Success & Compassion
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$360M+ Recovered for 9,500+ Employees Like You
We have the power to take on the country’s largest employers.
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11 Attorneys Named to Super Lawyers
Recognition that makes employers take you seriously — Super Lawyers and U.S. News Best Law Firms.
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Every Case Is Reviewed by a Senior AttorneyYou get experience on your side from day one.
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Trusted by the National MediaOur attorneys are regularly asked to comment by NBC, the WSJ, and the NY Post.
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Pay Nothing Unless We WinYour consultation is free, and you pay only if we recover for you.
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One of the Largest Plaintiff Law Firms Representing Employees
Awards and Recognition
Independent legal rating organizations have recognized the firm and its attorneys for their work in labor and employment law. Phillips & Associates is ranked by Chambers and Partners in the 2026 Chambers USA Guide, Labor and Employment, Mainly Plaintiffs in New York, is recognized in Best Law Firms 2026, is listed in The Best Lawyers in America 2026 for Litigation, Labor and Employment, and has 15 attorneys recognized in Super Lawyers. Thirteen of the firm's attorneys have obtained settlements or verdicts exceeding $1 million, qualifying them for membership in the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. Recognition does not decide a case, but it reflects how clients, peers, and opposing counsel view the firm's work.
