Treated Unfairly At Work? Contact Skilled Attorneys.
When you go to a job or job interview, you should be judged according to your skill, accomplishments, and performance, rather than personal traits like the color of your skin or how closely you match your employer’s stereotypes about what men and women should look like. Sadly, employers do act according to prejudice. You may find yourself working for someone who holds bias about your identity or life story and acts accordingly. If you were subject to discrimination, you should discuss your situation with the seasoned Long Island employment discrimination lawyers of Phillips & Associates. We serve Long Island communities in matters of discrimination and harassment. We’ve recovered millions in awards and settlements.
Serving Long Island Communities
Federal, state, and local laws prohibit workplace discrimination. It may be appropriate to sue your employer for damages if it takes an adverse employment action against you based on traits protected under federal laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The New York State Human Rights Law also prohibits discrimination in the workplace.
Adverse employment actions include termination, disparate pay, harassment, or failure to promote. For example, if your boss terminates you because you come out as gay, you may have a claim for workplace discrimination. Similarly, if your boss fails to take corrective action after you are subject to racial harassment, you may have a claim for damages. Failure to provide a reasonable accommodation for a disability can also be workplace discrimination.
Our firm represents workers in connection with employment discrimination arising out of:
Like communities in other places, Long Island communities face the very real risk of workplace sexual harassment even though the law prohibits it. Sexual harassment, as we’ve seen in recent years, is tragically common. It can include any unwelcome conduct based on a worker’s gender. Those of either gender may perpetrate harassment, and harassment may involve a perpetrator and victim of the same or opposite sexes. We represent clients in connection with:
Long Island Attorneys for Pregnancy Discrimination
We are a leader in pregnancy discrimination litigation. Pregnancy discrimination includes adverse employment actions taken not only because of pregnancy but also because of childbirth or a medical condition related to either of these. It is prohibited under both federal and state laws. You can learn more about pregnancy discrimination here:
The stakes tend to be high when you have to support a baby but have been treated negatively by an employer. It’s important to seek out legal advice from experienced advocates for workers.
Disability and Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Although disability discrimination is illegal, it is common. As a person whose disability meets the definition of “disability” under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act or state law, you are entitled to a reasonable accommodation unless it would pose an undue hardship. With larger companies, it is possible you could take family or medical leave under federal law, too, in connection with an illness, childbirth, or certain other circumstances. You can learn more about whether you might have a disability discrimination or medical leave discrimination claim here:
We represent clients from all walks of life and in many different kinds of industries. We handle not only employment discrimination and harassment litigation, but also the following employment-related matters:
Our Long Island Employment Lawyers Can Fight For You
If you were discriminated against on the job, it is important to talk to the experienced lawyers of Phillips & Associates. We provide a free initial consultation and represent clients on a contingency fee basis. We recognize how stressful discrimination is for workers, and with this fee structure, we do not recover our fees unless we secure an award or settlement on your behalf.
Long Island Discrimination
Experienced Employment Attorneys Assisting Residents of Long Island
The majority of New York City residents currently live on Long Island. As of 2015, it had a population of about 7.8 million people. It has a growing population of Chinese Americans, Korean Americans, Latin Americans, and other people with origins from around the world. Workplace discrimination occurs when an employer makes an employment decision — such as whether to hire a job applicant or fire an employee — on the basis of an employee's protected characteristic. Protected characteristics vary under federal, state, and local laws. If you are a victim of workplace discrimination, you should retain an experienced employment litigator. At Phillips & Associates, our Long Island discrimination lawyers may be able to represent you in a lawsuit for damages against your employer. We offer a free consultation to victims of discrimination and there are no upfront fees. Call our employment attorneys to discuss your situation at (866) 229-9441.
Know Your Rights Against Discrimination
The federal statutes that prohibit workplace discrimination include Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act. Different characteristics are protected under different laws. Title VII, for example, prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, sex, national origin, and religion. Pregnancy discrimination is also illegal. Your employer cannot make employment decisions, including hiring, firing, promotions, demotions, raises, or bonuses, based on these characteristics.
It would be discrimination under Title VII, for example, if your employer decided not to promote you to a customer-facing position at a restaurant because you are brown-skinned, wear a hijab, and are Middle Eastern, when the employer wants to project an "All-American image." This would be discrimination potentially on the basis of race, color, national origin, and religion. However, you may suffer from discrimination in this situation even on the basis of being perceived as being of a particular religion, race, or national origin. For example, if you observed Ramadan, and for that reason your employer assumed that you were Iraqi or Syrian, even though you were white and born in the United States, this would also be employment discrimination. A discrimination attorney could assist a Long Island employee with bringing a claim in this situation.
Discrimination often involves disparate treatment of workers, but it can also arise from a disparate impact. A disparate impact involves a formally neutral policy that adversely affects one group of people who share a protected characteristic more than other groups. You will need to show that the neutral practice or policy has a disproportionate negative effect on people who have a protected characteristic. Both objective and subjective criteria of recruitment (both tests and performance) can be challenged through a disparate impact lawsuit.
The New York State Human Rights Law also prohibits discrimination, and for many people, it is better to pursue damages under this law. For one thing, it prohibits discrimination by smaller employers. Title VII only applies to employers with at least 15 employees, whereas state law usually applies to employers that have at least four employees. An exception is for sexual harassment, a form of sex discrimination, which is prohibited no matter the size of the employer. If you are experiencing sexual advances, sexual comments or other sexual innuendos you should discuss this situation with an employment attorney to understand your rights.
For laws enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), such as Title VII, a Long Island discrimination attorney can help you file a charge with the EEOC within the narrow required window after the discriminatory incident or incidents. By contrast, you can pursue damages under state and local laws without first pursuing administrative action. Furthermore, there are caps on compensatory damages and punitive damages if you sue under federal law. The federal statutory scheme has gradually increasing caps, based on the size of the employer. For example, if your employer has 15-100 employees, the cap is $50,000. If your employer has 101-200 employees, for another example, the cap is $100,000.
Damages that you may be able to recover in a discrimination lawsuit include back pay, front pay, out-of-pocket expenses, and emotional distress. In cases involving egregious conduct by your employer, you may be able to recover punitive damages as well. The New York State Human Rights Law doesn’t not have caps on emotional damages.
Seek Guidance from an Experienced Discrimination Lawyer on Long Island
At Phillips & Associates, we can help you fight back after being mistreated in your workplace, and we are familiar with the nuances of these claims. We are a contingency law firm, which means there are no attorney fees unless we recover.
Contact us at (866) 229-9441 or through our online form to find out more about how you can assert your rights.
