Max Bracero is a New York City employment discrimination lawyer with the firm Phillips & Associates. He understands how humiliating and financially difficult it can be when an employer judges you on an aspect of your identity or life history, rather than the skills, experience, and talents you bring to the table. In most situations, employers have substantially more power and resources than employees. Mr. Bracero is dedicated to fighting for your rights. Whether you weren’t hired because of your race or you were subject to harassment based on your sex, you should consult Mr. Bracero or one of our other attorneys about the viability of a lawsuit.
Mr. Bracero attended Rutgers University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in history. He was named to the Chi Alpha Epsilon Honor Society, Dean’s List 2013-2015. He graduated from Temple University Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While attending law school, he served on National Law Guild Expungement Committee and the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. He also served with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA) Program.
Mr. Bracero brings a wide range of legal experience to his work as an attorney with the firm. He worked as a legal researcher and contributor at a law-based media company and as a legal proofreader for the American Intellectual Property Law Association. He also served as a Judicial Intern at the United States District Court of New Jersey in 2018. He was a hearings intern for Administrative Judge Allyson Jozwik in the same year. He also worked as a paralegal for the New York City Law Department.
Max Bracero Fights for Workers Who Face Discrimination or Harassment
Anti-discrimination laws include Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the New York State Human Rights Law, and the New York City Human Rights Law.
Employers must abide by a range of protections provided to employees under these different laws. However, the laws don’t have precisely the same scope or language. Courts interpret them in different ways so that what is discrimination under one law may not be discrimination under another. For example, as a transgender worker, you are protected from workplace harassment under city and state laws, but it may be a little more challenging to pursue your claim under federal law.
Accordingly, it is critical to consult an attorney about whether you have a basis to go forward and in what manner. There are time limits to pursuing damages. Memories fade over time and evidence disappears. You should consult a New York City attorney as soon as you suspect you’re being discriminated against or harassed based on a protected characteristic.
City and State Laws
The New York City Human Rights Law provides substantial protection to employees.
An employer may take an adverse employment action based on a protected characteristic with regard to any of the following:
- Job postings
- Job interviews
- Hiring
- Discipline and firing
- Promotions and demotions
- Salary and benefits
- Performance evaluations
- Any other decisions that affect the terms and conditions of your job
If you are disabled, your employer’s failure to provide a reasonable accommodation to you may be actionable discriminatory conduct, unless it would face an undue hardship by doing so.
In order to pursue damages under the New York City Human Rights Law, you will need to file a complaint with the Commission within one year of the last discriminatory act you faced, or three years of the last gender-based harassment you allege.
State Law
The New York State Human Rights Law provides protection in a wider range of areas than does federal law. It forbids discriminatory harassment in the workplace. Employers cannot harass employees based on their race, age, creed, color, sexual orientation, national origin, gender expression, gender identity, sex, disability, military status, familial status, domestic violence victim status, or marital status. Employers can’t harass anyone who opposes an illegal practice under state law. Discriminatory harassment is illegal under the New York State Human Rights Law when it results in a person facing inferior terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, which is a lower standard than the severe and pervasive standard that is common under anti-harassment law.
Consult an Experienced Employment Discrimination Attorney
Mr. Bracero is committed to fighting for your rights under federal, state, or local anti-discrimination laws. If your employer made an adverse decision based on your protected characteristic, Mr. Bracero or one of the other seasoned employment discrimination lawyers of Phillips & Associates may be able to represent you. We represent employees in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, the Bronx, Nassau County, and Suffolk County. Call us at (866) 229-9441 or complete our online form.
