Stefanie Shmil

Stefanie Shmil is a lawyer with the New York City employment discrimination law firm of Phillips & Associates. Ms. Shmil understands that workers are in an unequal relationship of power with their employers. When you are discriminated against by an employer, you may face grave setbacks in your career and face difficulty finding another job to pay the bills. There may be emotional fallout as well. As a worker who has been discriminated against, you may be afraid that nobody will believe you or that your employer will retaliate against you if you file a complaint. It’s important to have an experienced trial lawyer by your side to fight for you.

Ms. Shmil graduated from Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology in May 2011. During her undergraduate years, she studied abroad at the University of Richmond in Rome, Italy. Ms. Shmil received her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts, and graduated with a concentration in trial and appellate advocacy. She was Team Captain for the Phi Alpha Delta Fraternity National Mock Trial Team.

Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Shmil was an Assistant District Attorney at the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office, where she handled a variety of complex cases and investigations, conducted grand jury presentations, and gained trial experience. During law school, she was a Student Prosecutor at the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in Boston, Massachusetts. Ms. Shmil was also a Judicial Intern for the Honorable Michael Bolden, First Justice.

Ms. Shmil has been admitted to practice in the State of New York, the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

In New York City, discrimination is prohibited under federal, state, and local laws. Discrimination occurs whenever an employer takes an adverse action against an employee based on his or her protected characteristic. However, each of the laws protects different characteristics. Even when there is overlap, courts may interpret the language of the relevant statutes differently. Ms. Shmil will look at a client’s case closely to determine what legal strategies are likely to yield the greatest relief.  

State and local laws provide greater protection than federal law does. They apply to smaller workplaces and protect a greater range of characteristics. The New York State Human Rights Law applies to employers that have only one employee. It protects workers based on characteristics such as:

• Age
• Creed
• Race
• Color
• Sex
• Sexual orientation
• Marital status
• National origin
• Domestic violence victim status
• Disability
• Pregnancy-related condition
• Military status
• Arrest or conviction record
• Predisposing genetic characteristics
• Domestic worker status
• Familial status

For years, the New York City Human Rights Law has been considered one of the most protective antidiscrimination civil rights laws in the country. The city laws apply to employers that have at least four employees. It prohibits workplace discrimination based on a range of protected characteristics including:

• Color
• Race
• Age
• Religion or Creed
• National origin
• Gender
• Gender identity
• Sexual orientation
• Disability
• Active Military Service or Veteran Status
• Marital status
• Caregiver status

Federal laws include the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Many federal antidiscrimination laws are enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). They only apply to those employers that have a minimum of 15 employees.

If your employer made an important employment decision that harmed you based on a protected characteristic such as sex, religion or disability, you should call Stefanie Shmil and the employment law firm of Phillips & Associates. We represent workers in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, the Bronx, Nassau County or Suffolk County. Call us at (212) 248-7431 or complete our online form.