NEW YORK CITY
EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION ATTORNEY
The most common form of discrimination happens in the workplace. Sexual harassment is a type of discrimination, where the employer is responsible for creating or allowing a “hostile work environment.” There are civil rights laws against discrimination in any facet of employment, it can be discrimination during the hiring and firing process, but it can also happen during the course of your employment. When you suspect that you are being treated unfairly at work, a call to a New York City Employment Discrimination Attorney will shed light on your rights.
An employer may not discriminate based on the following criteria:
- Age (Over 40)
- Gender
- Race
- Ethnicity
- Skin Color
- National Origin
- Mental or Physical Disability
- Genetic Information
- Relationship to someone who may be discriminated against
- Pregnancy or Parenthood
Some examples are:
- Specifying the above criteria in a job advertisement (Examples: Waitress, Able Bodied, Young Lady, Strong Man, Youthful)
- Excluding potential employees during the recruitment process (Example: Only men were interviewed for a position, even though many women applied.)
- Denying some staff compensation or benefits (Example: The younger employees are given all the overtime.)
- Paying equally-qualified workers, with the same job description and experience, different salaries (Example: The German employees are paid more than the Dutch employees.)
- Discriminating when assigning disability leave, maternity leave, or retirement options (Example: An older worker is given less disability leave, in the hope they will retire.)
- Denying or disrupting the use of company facilities (Example: There are not enough restrooms for women and they have to wait in line.)
- Discrimination when issuing promotions or lay-offs (Example: The French workers are always getting promoted, whereas the British workers are not.)
Sexual Harassment and the Hostile Work Environment
A hostile work environment is an environment that is difficult or uncomfortable for another person to work in due to discrimination. The most common type is sexual harassment which might include fondling, suggestive remarks, sexually-suggestive photos displayed in the workplace, use of sexual language, or off-color jokes. If a co-worker makes an offensive joke once, you report it to your employer, the employer speaks to the co-worker and it never happens again – that is NOT harassment or a hostile work environment. Your employer did that they were supposed to do and succeeded in properly protecting you. If there is an ongoing pattern of harassment, it’s time to call a New York City Employment Discrimination Attorney.
From Wikipedia:
To be unlawful, the conduct must create a work environment that would be intimidating, hostile, or offensive to a reasonable person. An employer can be held liable for failing to prevent these workplace conditions, unless it can prove that it attempted to prevent the harassment and that the employee failed to take advantage of existing harassment counter-measures or tools provided by the employer.
A hostile work environment may also be created when management acts in a manner designed to make an employee quit in retaliation for some action. For example, if an employee reported safety violations at work, was injured, attempted to join a union, or reported regulatory violations by management, and management’s response was to harass and pressure the employee to quit. Employers have tried to force employees to quit by imposing unwarranted discipline, reducing hours, cutting wages, or transferring the complaining employee to a distant work location.
The United States Supreme Court stated in Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc.[4] that Title VII is “not a general civility code.” Thus, federal law does not prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that are not extremely serious. Rather, the conduct must be so objectively offensive as to alter the conditions of the individual’s employment. The conditions of employment are altered only if the harassment culminates in a tangible employment action or is sufficiently severe or pervasive.
Please New York City Employment Discrimination Attorney, Wittenstein & Wittenstein at 718-261-8114 if you have been a victim of discrimination.
NEW YORK CITY EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION ATTORNEY
How to Know the Value of a Personal Injury Case
We all know that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is! Yet, everybody always wants to know what their personal injury case is worth the day after it happened - and some are willing to believe anything! The reality is that the value of a personal injury case usually depends on facts that can take months or years to establish, and anybody that claims that they can get you big bucks for your small injury is, well, ummm, LYING! What prompted this post was a call from a former client who told me that he tried to refer a friend to our office. He told me she had broke her leg [...]
When Do You Need to Call a Personal Injury Attorney in Forest Hills?
Accidents and injuries can come upon us suddenly. Unfortunately, these things can happen to anyone, at any time. Personal Injury Law allows every injured individual to get compensation whenever the negligence of somebody else causes harm. There are many different situations that can give rise to a personal injury case. However, every situation where someone gets injured does not meet this legal standard. It is necessary to show that somebody else’s fault caused the accident and that your injuries are related to the accident. Not everybody is aware of all the different situations when a personal injury attorney should be contacted. So, to avoid any kind of confusion, we will now look at common cases [...]
Honest Personal Injury Attorney – Is this an Oxymoron?
I tend to be the kind of person that expects the best from others, but lately, so many of my clients have been telling me horror stories about their experiences with other Personal Injury Attorneys. True, Personal Injury Attorneys and especially Car Accident Attorneys do not have the best reputation for honesty. My father trained me thirty years ago to be honest and treat all the clients with the utmost respect. I find it shocking how few attorneys actually do this. That's what prompted me to write this blog post, "Honest Personal Injury Attorney - is this an Oxymoron?" Are we like jumbo shrimp? Are so few of aware of the ethical rules and willing to [...]
5 Things to Think about when Hiring a Queens Car Accident Attorney
TOP QUEENS CAR ACCIDENT ATTORNEY EXPLAINS HOW TO BE PREPARED Top Queens Car Accident Attorney know that accidents can be traumatic and we should always be prepared for all type of accidents. One of the best ways to prepare is to have the number of a Queens accident attorney NYC at hand if any of your near or dear ones have an accident. So let me ask you one question: Whenever you think about accidents, what comes to your mind? Destruction, loss, and other negative thoughts, right? Everybody feels this way, whether it’s a major or minor accident. It doesn’t matter whether you became a victim due to your own fault or due to somebody [...]
Benefits of hiring Established Forest Hills Personal Injury Lawyers – practicing in your area for 60 years
TOP NEGLIGENCE LAWYER QUEENS NYC BASED - WE KNOW THE TURF It is really essential to have a good connection with your lawyer. A good connection comes with trust and this trust will allow you to stay calm while the lawyer represents your case in an effective way in court. Especially when it is the case of personal injury, you need to be very frank with your lawyer and should tell every detail without any hesitation. Facing a serious injury due to an unexpected accident can be really stressful. To get the right compensation amount for the personal loss and injury, you may have to deal with insurance companies. Dealing with a legal and bureaucratic [...]
Justice is Sweet – How a Personal Injury Attorney Can Help You
HOW A NYC PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY CAN HELP YOU For many people, Personal Injury Attorneys are their lifesavers. They can help people who have suffered loss, accidents, or injuries an opportunity to rebuild their lives. When hard-working people are injured by the negligence, recklessness, malpractice or deliberate errors of others, personal injury lawyers work with the victims to obtain compensation and that can cover medical expenses, disability, lost wages, defamation, emotional distress, expenses and suffering. Personal injury attorneys also protect clients from being victimized by insurance companies and the legal system. Accidents in the workplace are just one type of loss that personal injury attorneys are able to assist with, but everything from automobile accidents to [...]