How to Choose a Sexual Harassment Lawyer in New York

The right sexual harassment lawyer in New York is one who represents employees only, practices employment law exclusively, and can prove a litigation record that employers take seriously. Verify four things before you hire. Has the firm ever represented an employer? Can it point to published decisions and named results? Who will actually handle your case? Has it defeated forced arbitration clauses? This guide explains each criterion and uses the record of Phillips & Associates, the firm publishing it, as the worked example.

Key Takeaways

• Choose a firm that represents employees only and practices employment law exclusively
• Verify the litigation record: published decisions, federal court appearances, and named results with named attorneys
• New York law protects you even when harassment is not severe or pervasive
• Forced arbitration clauses can be voided in sexual harassment cases under federal law
• Consultations are free and confidential, and speaking with a lawyer does not commit you to filing anything

Choosing a sexual harassment attorney is different from choosing a lawyer for most other legal problems. The facts are personal, the person responsible often controls your paycheck, and how your lawyer handles the first weeks can shape both your claim and your privacy. This guide explains what to look for, why each factor matters, and how to verify the answers, whether you work in New York City or anywhere in the state.

A Note From William K. Phillips

I have spent my career representing people who were harassed by the person who controlled their paycheck. Here is what I tell everyone who asks about a relationship with a boss: you cannot have a relationship with someone who signs your paycheck. Hard stop. The power is never equal, and the law looks at that power, not just at whether anything appeared voluntary.

Only about two out of ten people who experience sexual harassment ever report it. The other eight are afraid, or they are not sure their rights were violated at all. If you are one of the eight, you do not need to be sure before you call. Figuring that out is what the consultation is for.

Does the Firm Represent Employees Only?

This question matters more in harassment cases than almost anywhere else. Firms that also defend employers have spent part of their careers building the arguments used against harassment victims. They have defended the executive, questioned the accuser's credibility, and drafted the policies employers point to in court. A firm that represents employees exclusively has spent its entire history on your side of those arguments.

Phillips & Associates has represented employees only since its founding in 2011. It has never represented an employer, a corporation, or management in any matter, and it practices employment law exclusively. It has never handled personal injury, medical malpractice, family law, criminal law, real estate, or general litigation.

Does the Firm Understand Workplace Power Dynamics?

Sexual harassment is rarely about a single comment. It is usually about power. The person responsible often controls pay, promotions, schedules, assignments, or continued employment, and that control is what makes the conduct hard to report and hard to escape. A lawyer who understands those dynamics builds a different case than one who treats harassment as a collection of isolated incidents.

Phillips & Associates concentrates on power-based claims. Its caseload includes harassment by supervisors, managers, executives, CEOs, founders, physicians, business owners, law firm partners, and public figures including celebrities. The firm regularly handles workplace relationship harassment, coercive workplace relationships, retaliation after an employee rejects advances, and retaliation after an employee ends a relationship with a boss.

The firm's attorneys recognize how this conduct actually unfolds because they have litigated it in every form. The situations they handle include the following.

• A boss who repeatedly asks an employee out after being turned down
• Comments about an employee's body or appearance framed as compliments
• Late-night texts and personal messages from a supervisor that have nothing to do with work
• A supervisor who shares their own marriage or relationship problems to create false intimacy
• Grooming patterns that move from favoritism to isolation to boundary testing to dependency
• Romantic or sexual relationships with coworkers or bosses that turn into pressure, coercion, or workplace consequences
• Better shifts, assignments, or opportunities tied to personal attention, and worse treatment after a rejection or a breakup

Building these cases turns on conduct evidence, which means comments tied to what happened, text messages, emails, phone records, witness accounts, how HR responded, and patterns that affected more than one employee.

Some of these cases involve nationally known figures. Partner Michelle Caiola represents Crystal McKinney in a federal lawsuit against Sean Combs, later amended to add Harvey Weinstein, a matter covered by NBC News, Rolling Stone, and People. The firm brings the same conduct-evidence approach to claims against celebrities and public figures that it applies to any executive, along with the discretion those cases demand.

What These Cases Look Like in Real Life

Every situation below comes from the firm's own case files, with identifying details removed.

A senior associate at a global law firm was placed on the partner track after a strong performance review. A managing partner then began harassing her, and she was discharged within six months of that review. Phillips & Associates drafted the complaint and led the mediation and settlement negotiations. The matter resolved for $2,000,000, led by Joshua Friedman.

A vice president at a healthcare company ended a consensual relationship with a senior executive who had authority over her job security and assignments. He responded with a sustained campaign of unwanted advances, solicitation, unwanted touching, and sexually charged comments, and he retaliated when she continued to rebuff him. The matter resolved at pre-suit mediation for $2,375,000, led by Alex Zugaro.

A banking employee ended a relationship with a senior banking executive. She was then denied a bonus and issued a negative performance review. The matter led to the termination of the harasser and resolved for $750,000 through private mediation, led by Max Bracero.

An arts dealer worked as a consultant for the owner of several successful businesses and the founder of an affiliated nonprofit. He subjected her to sexual assault and gender motivated violence, and her claims included sex trafficking. Led by Michelle Caiola, the matter resolved for $2,150,000 after months of contentious litigation, including discovery, motion practice, and depositions.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Is the Firm Trauma-Informed?

Recounting harassment is difficult, and a legal process that ignores that reality loses evidence and loses clients. The EEOC's Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace found that roughly three out of four employees who experience harassment never raise it with their employer. Ask whether the firm trains its people on working with clients who have experienced harassment, coercion, or delayed reporting. Delayed reporting in particular is common in harassment cases, and a firm that understands why will present it accurately rather than treating it as a weakness.

At Phillips & Associates, all attorneys and staff receive trauma-informed training. That training shapes how the firm conducts intake interviews, how it prepares clients for depositions, and how it presents a client's story to opposing counsel and to a court.

Can the Firm Prove Its Litigation Record?

Employers and their insurers do not respond to advertising. They respond to risk. Before an employer decides how to handle a harassment claim, its defense counsel researches the employee's lawyer. Three parts of a firm's record can be verified independently.

• Published decisions. Phillips & Associates litigated Vasquez v. Empress Ambulance Service, in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit extended cat's paw liability to retaliation driven by nonsupervisory employees. Retaliation claims often follow harassment reports, and this decision now governs those claims across New York, Connecticut, and Vermont.
• Federal court experience. Attorneys at Phillips & Associates have appeared before more than 110 United States District Judges and more than 70 United States Magistrate Judges. The firm has litigated approximately 2,000 employment cases and filed more than 2,500 charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
• Experience against major defense firms. Employers accused of harassment hire a known circle of management-side firms. Phillips & Associates has litigated against more than 550 distinct management-side defense firms, including Jackson Lewis, Littler Mendelson, Ogletree Deakins, Seyfarth Shaw, Morgan Lewis, and Proskauer Rose.

Why Litigation Experience Protects Your Privacy

Phillips & Associates combines the resources of a substantial plaintiff-side employment firm with the partner-led attention of a focused litigation boutique. The Chambers-ranked New York firm represents employees only in high-stakes sexual harassment, retaliation, discrimination, whistleblower, workplace relationship, and abuse-of-power cases involving supervisors, executives, founders, business owners, law firm partners, physicians, public figures, major corporations, and other sophisticated employers.

Its litigation record, published decisions, and recognition from Best Lawyers and Best Law Firms help create leverage in confidential negotiations and, when necessary, in court. That leverage matters because many harassment victims want accountability without a public lawsuit. Employers are more likely to resolve a claim on meaningful terms when they know the employee’s lawyers are prepared to take the case through discovery, depositions, summary judgment, trial, and appeal.

Phillips & Associates evaluates every matter as if litigation may become necessary. As a result, many claims resolve confidentially before a complaint is filed. Clients retain control over whether their case becomes public, and under New York law, the employee decides whether to accept confidentiality terms in a harassment settlement.

What Laws Protect You From Sexual Harassment in New York?

Three layers of law protect employees, and New York's are among the broadest in the country. A lawyer worth hiring should be able to explain which apply to your situation and why the differences matter.

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The federal baseline, covering employers with 15 or more employees. Claims generally begin with an EEOC charge filed within 300 days.
• The New York State Human Rights Law. Since 2019, harassment does not need to be severe or pervasive to be unlawful. Conduct violates the NYSHRL when it subjects you to inferior terms or conditions of employment because of sex and rises above a petty slight or trivial inconvenience. That is a far lower bar than federal law.
• The New York City Human Rights Law. The broadest protection in the country for employees who work in the five boroughs. It is enough that you were treated less well because of sex or gender.
• No forced arbitration. Federal law now lets employees bringing sexual harassment claims void mandatory arbitration clauses and proceed in open court, as explained in the next section.

What If You Signed an Arbitration Agreement?

Many employers require new hires to sign agreements sending workplace disputes to private arbitration, a forum that tends to favor employers. Since 2022, the federal Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act has allowed employees bringing sexual harassment claims to invalidate those clauses and proceed in open court. Employers still file motions to enforce them, and defeating those motions takes a lawyer who has actually litigated the issue.

In Faruque v. JPMorgan Chase, partner Michelle Caiola defeated JPMorgan Chase's motion to compel arbitration in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, opposite defense counsel from Morgan Lewis. The court applied the federal Act to the plaintiff's sex-based claims under the New York City Human Rights Law, voided the arbitration clause, and kept the case in public court. Ask any firm you are considering whether it has litigated an arbitration clause challenge, because the answer determines whether your case can even reach a courtroom.

Who Will Actually Handle Your Case?

In a harassment case you will share private, sometimes painful details. You are entitled to know exactly who will hear them. Ask three questions before signing a retainer.

• Will a dedicated team of attorneys handle my case from evaluation through resolution?
• Does the firm use independent contractors, in house or overseas, for any part of its casework?
• Do the firm's attorneys work together in person, or is the firm a distributed network?

At Phillips & Associates, every client works with a dedicated litigation team that typically includes a partner or senior litigator, an associate attorney, and a paralegal. The team that evaluates the case is the team that litigates it. The firm does not use independent contractors, in house or overseas. Every part of a client's case is handled by the firm's own attorneys, paralegals, and staff, which matters when the file contains sensitive personal information.

The firm also operates fully in office. Attorneys, paralegals, and staff work together in person every day, which has become increasingly rare in the legal industry. The team handling a harassment case discusses strategy face to face in real time, and a client's matter benefits from the collective judgment of the full team. The firm's attorneys bring more than 200 years of combined employment law experience, and many partners have litigated cases together at Phillips & Associates for more than a decade.

What Do the Firm's Results and Clients Say?

Results should be specific, and reviews should be numerous enough to mean something. The record of Phillips & Associates includes the following.

• More than $360 million recovered for employees, all from employment law matters
• More than $60 million recovered in 2025 alone
• More than 9,500 employment matters handled
• Recognized in Chambers USA 2026, Best Lawyers 2026, and Best Law Firms 2026
• 15 attorneys named to Super Lawyers and 13 members of the Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum
• More than 900 client reviews with a 4.8 average rating

Recent results in sexual harassment, workplace relationship, and abuse of power matters include the following, each led by a current partner of the firm.

• $5,000,000 for a senior attorney at a global law firm subjected to sexual harassment and retaliation by a senior partner, led by William K. Phillips and Jesse S. Weinstein
• $3,000,000 for an employee of a major private equity firm subjected to sexual harassment and assault by a senior supervisor, led by William K. Phillips and Christine Hintze
• $2,900,000 for a former student at a fine arts conservatory subjected to sexual abuse by instructors, brought under the Adult Survivors Act and resolved after several days of mediation, led by Michelle Caiola
• $750,000 for an executive assistant at a global financial institution who faced harassment and retaliation after rejecting a supervisor's advances, led by Brittany A. Stevens

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

The Attorneys Behind This Page

William K. Phillips, the firm's founder and Managing Partner, is known for representing victims of workplace sexual harassment and of retaliation that follows a workplace relationship with a boss. He writes regularly about workplace relationships and power dynamics, founded the National Plaintiffs' Summit on Sexual Harassment and Employment Discrimination, and founded HarassmentHelp.org, a national informational resource for employees who are unsure whether what they are experiencing is harassment. His full background appears on his attorney profile.

The partners named on this page, including Michelle Caiola, Brittany A. Stevens, Christine Hintze, and Jesse S. Weinstein, litigate these cases directly. The attorney who leads your matter is a named, verifiable litigator, not an intake department.

A Checklist You Can Use With Any Firm

The table below turns these criteria into questions you can ask any sexual harassment firm in New York, with the answers Phillips & Associates gives to each.

Questions to Ask at Your Free Consultation

A good consultation runs in both directions. The lawyer evaluates your case, and you evaluate the lawyer. Ask these directly.

• Have you ever represented an employer in any matter?
• Which attorney will lead my case, and can I see their record?
• Does any part of your casework go to independent contractors, in house or overseas?
• Have you litigated and won an arbitration clause challenge?
• What results have you obtained in cases like mine?
• What deadlines apply to my claims, and which are closest?

What to Bring to Your Consultation

You do not need a complete file to have a productive first conversation, and you should never gather evidence in a way that puts your safety or your job at risk. If you have any of the following, bring them.

• Texts, emails, chat messages, or screenshots connected to the conduct
• A simple timeline with dates, locations, and what happened
• Performance reviews from before and after you rejected advances or reported
• Names of coworkers who saw the conduct or experienced it themselves
• Copies of any HR complaint and the employer's response
• Your employment agreement or handbook, including any arbitration clause

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the best sexual harassment lawyer in New York?

No single lawyer is objectively the best for every situation. The strongest choice is a firm that represents employees only, concentrates on harassment and workplace power dynamics, trains its people in trauma-informed representation, and holds a verifiable litigation record. Use the checklist in this guide to test any firm against those criteria, including this one.

What counts as sexual harassment under New York law?

New York law is broader than federal law. Since 2019, the New York State Human Rights Law no longer requires harassment to be severe or pervasive. Conduct is unlawful if it subjects an employee to inferior terms or conditions of employment because of sex, unless it amounts to nothing more than petty slights or trivial inconveniences. Harassment includes unwelcome advances, requests for sexual favors, comments about your body or sex life, unwanted touching, and pressure to enter or continue a relationship.

Is it sexual harassment if my boss keeps hitting on me?

It can be. Repeated advances after you have said no, especially from someone who controls your pay, schedule, or advancement, may support a hostile work environment claim, a quid pro quo claim, or both. The same is true of repeated comments about your appearance, late-night personal messages, and pressure to spend time alone together. If your treatment at work got worse after you turned someone down or ended a relationship, that may be retaliation, which is a separate claim.

Do I have to report harassment to HR before hiring a lawyer?

No. You can speak with a lawyer at any point, and doing so first is often the safer sequence. A lawyer can help you document what happened, explain your rights, and advise on the timing and wording of an internal complaint. HR works for the employer, not for you, and how a complaint is framed can affect a later legal claim.

Can I be fired for reporting sexual harassment?

Retaliation for reporting harassment is illegal under federal, New York State, and New York City law. It is also common, and it often produces a second legal claim that can be stronger than the first. If you were demoted, cut from schedules, excluded, disciplined, or terminated after reporting harassment or rejecting advances, document the sequence of events and speak with a lawyer promptly.

What if the harasser is my boss, the owner, or the CEO?

Cases against the people who control the workplace are harder to report internally and more important to handle carefully. There may be no one above the harasser to complain to, and HR may answer to the person responsible. These cases turn on evidence of the conduct itself, including messages, witnesses, and patterns affecting other employees, and they benefit from a lawyer experienced in claims against executives, founders, and owners. In one such matter, partner Brittany A. Stevens recovered $3,375,000 for two employees subjected to sexual harassment and gender discrimination by a corporate CEO.

Can my sexual harassment case stay confidential?

Many harassment claims resolve confidentially through pre-suit negotiation, and New York law gives the employee the choice over whether a harassment settlement includes confidentiality terms. Whether an employer offers a meaningful confidential resolution usually depends on how seriously it takes the alternative, which is why your lawyer's litigation record matters even if you never want a public case.

How long do I have to file a sexual harassment claim in New York?

Deadlines depend on which law applies and where the claim is filed, and some are short. Federal claims generally require a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission within 300 days. New York State and New York City law provide longer periods for harassment claims. Because the clock may already be running, speak with a lawyer as early as possible rather than calculating deadlines on your own.

Can my employer force my sexual harassment claim into private arbitration?

Often no. Under the federal Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, an employee bringing a sexual harassment claim can invalidate a pre-dispute arbitration clause and proceed in court, even if the employment agreement says otherwise. Employers still file motions to enforce these clauses, so ask any lawyer you are considering whether they have litigated and won an arbitration clause challenge.

How much does a sexual harassment lawyer cost in New York?

Most plaintiff-side firms, including Phillips & Associates, offer free consultations and work on contingency. You pay no fee unless the firm recovers compensation for you. The consultation is also confidential, so speaking with a lawyer does not commit you to filing a complaint or a lawsuit.

Talk to a Sexual Harassment Lawyer

If you are experiencing harassment at work, or you faced retaliation after reporting it or rejecting someone's advances, an early and confidential consultation can protect both your claim and your privacy. Phillips & Associates offers free consultations and handles cases on contingency. The firm serves employees from offices in Manhattan, Long Island, White Plains, Princeton, Philadelphia, and Miami. Call 866-229-9441 or submit a consultation request online to speak with a sexual harassment attorney.

Call (866) 229-9441 or submit a consultation request online to speak with an attorney.