New York Employment Lawyers

Unfortunately, stereotypes surrounding pregnancy still sometimes play a role in how an employee expecting a child is treated in the workplace. A woman may find herself subjected to demeaning comments or overlooked for promotions or bonuses, simply on the basis of her pregnancy. These situations are unlawful and may form the basis of a claim. Under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), a federal law, employees throughout the U.S. are shielded from adverse treatment based on pregnancy, and they are entitled to be accommodated in the workplace similar to other temporarily disabled employees. Although the PDA covers only employers with 15 or more employees, state laws in New York extend to smaller businesses.

Closely related to sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination, gender discrimination arises when an employee is treated differently from their co-workers based on their sex. For example, an employee may not base promotions or pay raises on gender stereotypes or provide benefits only to female rather than male spouses of employees. The Equal Pay Act requires employers throughout the U.S. to provide equal pay to employees who are working in substantially equal jobs, regardless of their gender. This is broadly defined to include bonuses, stock options, and benefits, in addition to actual salary. As with other forms of discrimination, federal protections against gender discrimination extend not only to current employees but also to job applicants.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as state and local laws, prohibit racial discrimination in New York City workplaces. Title VII covers all private employers, educational institutions, and state and local government organizations that employ 15 or more workers. Under Title VII, it is illegal for a covered employer to discriminate against an employee or a job applicant based on race when taking employment actions. For example, it is illegal for your employer to fail to promote you or to terminate you based on race. Similarly, an employer interviewing a job applicant cannot fail to hire that applicant merely because they are of a particular race. State and local laws also prohibit this form of discrimination.

Under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, an employer may not discriminate against a qualified employee based on a history of disability or the employer's belief that a qualified employee has a mental or physical impairment that is not short-lived and minor. Even employees and job applicants who are not actually disabled are protected against discrimination if the employer takes an adverse employment action because it believes there is a disability. Moreover, employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees who request an accommodation due to the disability, unless providing that accommodation would be overly expensive or difficult.

Under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), employers in the U.S. may not discriminate against workers who are over 40 years old on the basis of their age. Businesses with 20 or more employees are covered by this federal law, while New York State and City laws provide additional protections. Also, the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act of 1990 (OWBPA) governs actions by employers that are related to employee benefits. Under the OWBPA, employers may not reduce benefits based on age unless the cost of providing the reduced benefits to older employees is no greater than the cost of providing benefits to younger employees.

While federal law does not explicitly prohibit sexual orientation discrimination in most situations, the state of New York does protect employees in the private sector from this type of conduct. Even if your employer acts based on a mistaken belief about your sexual orientation, you may be entitled to assert your legal rights. Any type of unequal treatment of employees based on actual or perceived sexual orientation is prohibited in New York. This can consist of overt harassment or actions such as being denied professional advancement, and it also may arise from more subtle comments such as whether a person is not masculine or not feminine enough for a certain role or job.

Laws at the federal, state, and city levels prevent employers from treating workers differently based on their country of origin, as well as certain related traits, such as ethnicity, ancestry, or foreign accent. As with other forms of discrimination, a claim may arise whether or not the employer’s perception of the employee’s national origin is accurate. For example, a company may not refuse interviews to people who have foreign accents or place additional requirements on non-white individuals during the job application process. In some situations, a company may require that only English be spoken in the workplace, but only if it promotes the necessary operations of the business.

Employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations for the religious practices of their employees, in addition to refraining from harassing them based on their religion. Religious beliefs are broadly defined under the law, extending from a membership in a particular religion to sincere ethical or personal beliefs. Unless a religious observance would create an undue hardship for an employer or interfere with a bona fide qualification of the job, an employer must accommodate an employee’s sincere desire to engage in that observance, such as by rearranging a work schedule. An employee also may have a legal claim if their employer fails to address hostile actions by customers or clients toward the employee based on their religion.

This form of discrimination tends to arise most often in the application or hiring process. Although adverse decisions based on prior criminal convictions are not specifically prohibited by federal law, New York State has enacted laws in this area to protect its public policy interest in providing employment for citizens with criminal records. Discrimination based on a prospective employee’s criminal history is not permitted unless the job is in law enforcement, there is a direct relationship between the applicant’s conviction and the type of job, or hiring the applicant would pose an unreasonable risk to people or property. Employers that do consider prior convictions must take into account how much time has passed since the conviction, how old the applicant was when the crime was committed, and the severity of the offense.