Employment Discrimination
Award-Winning Employment Litigation Legal Representation
Discrimination Lawyer New York
The employment discrimination lawyers at The Giordano Law Offices Personal Injury & Employment Lawyers understand how prevalent workplace discrimination is throughout New York City and the entire state, and we’re here to help individuals hold discriminatory employers accountable within the broad parameters of human rights law as your New York City discrimination lawyer.
Although there are many laws that protect individuals within discrimination cases and all facets of employment law, The Civil Rights Act is one the most prevalent pieces of legislation that prohibits any form of discrimination against people due to race, age, color, religion, national origin, gender identity, disability discrimination or sexual orientation. In terms of employment law and discrimination in the workplace, it’s absolutely illegal to discriminate against another individual within the following aspects of employment:
- Recruitment
- Hiring and firing
- Job advertisements
- Compensation
- Employee classification
- Promotions, layoffs, transfers, recalls
- Testing
- Fringe benefits
- Disability leave, retirement plans
- Overall use of business facilities
- Apprenticeship programs, training
- And many other conditions and terms oriented around employment
If you or a family member has become the victim of employment discrimination, then you’re going to need the assistance of an NYC discrimination lawyer. We are civil rights specialists that have helped countless victims of workplace discrimination by protecting their New York State human rights and ensuring that wrongful employers and parties are held fully accountable for their actions via full and fair settlement amounts.
Read on for a comprehensive overview of everything you need to know about discrimination cases, and as always feel free to contact us online to get in touch with experienced discrimination lawyers today with a free consultation.
We’re an experienced law firm that specializes in workplace discrimination and all facets of employment law, and some of the most common discrimination claims that we handle throughout New York City include the following:
Age Discimination
Age discrimination in employment is actually a lot more common throughout New York City than most people would think, and it goes towards both spectrums of the employment age bracket. From young people just coming out of school to older workers towards the middle or end of their careers, employment discrimination oriented around age continues to affect job security and hiring decisions.
Gender & Sexual Orientation Discrimination
It’s never acceptable within the workplace to discriminate based upon sexual orientation or gender, but the truth is that this type of employment discrimination occurs in a whole variety of different scenarios. From women being denied promotions or losing jobs due to pregnancy or all forms of sexual harassment, gender discrimination is all too alive and well and necessitates representation from experienced employment discrimination attorneys.
Disability Discrimination
The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) helps ensure that disabled Americans have the right to work, and this law is supposed to incentivize employers to provide proper accommodations for workers with disabilities. But nevertheless, disability discrimination continues to occur all throughout New York City, and our legal team also specializes in disability discrimination law.
Some of the other common discrimination claims that we handle include:
- LGBT discrimination cases
- Wrongful termination and employer retaliation
- Housing discrimination
- New York State hate crimes
- Patron/Customer discrimination
- And much more…
What is Discimination ?
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, discrimination refers to a prejudiced or prejudicial outlook, action, or treatment.
This definition is of course rather broad, but it directly applies to all facets of employment discrimination throughout New York City today. Workplace discrimination laws have been specifically implemented to protect employees from all sorts of discriminatory actions or predispositions, but of course, this portion of employment law is very complicated and quickly leads to employers seeking to reclaim their reputation by denying the claim and fighting employment discrimination attorneys in heated legal disputes.
This is why it’s so critical to always work with an experienced New York City discrimination attorney because protecting your rights within a discrimination claim and subsequent employment litigation process is a lot easier said than done.
what is needed for A discimination lawsuit?
In order to be successful within an employment discrimination claim, an employee and their discrimination lawyers will have to undoubtedly show how an employer took some form of negative action against the employee that was motivated by discrimination.
Some common negative actions within workplace discrimination cases include:
- Firing or termination
- Demotion
- Being forced to quit the job
- Pay decrease or loss of benefits
- Denying employment advancement or promotion
- Unfavorable job assignment or transfer
- Failing to hire an individual as an employee
- Any other blatantly negative decision that subsequently has a significant impact on the employee’s job conditions and contractual terms
How Are Discimination Cases Proven?
It’s important to note that an employee plaintiff within a discrimination case doesn’t have to prove that discrimination was the sole motivating factor behind an employer’s negative action, and certain actions will be illegal if the motivations were mixed with illegal and legal reasoning.
As is easy to imagine, most employers will not admit that their negative employment action was motivated by discrimination. That’s why direct and indirect evidence can be utilized in order to prove discrimination within these employment law cases.
Direct evidence can include things like discriminatory statements made by a supervisor or employer. Indirect evidence comes in a whole variety of forms, including the common strategy of proving how the negative employment action was illogical or didn’t make sense. An example of this would be an employer stating that they had to terminate an employee due to lack of available work, but then quickly re-hired a replacement employee.
Another common indirect form of discrimination evidence is effectively proving a pattern of unfair treatment towards certain co-workers with the same characteristics as the plaintiff.
How Much Can You Sue For Discimination At Work?
Discrimination claims can entail a whole array of damages, including lost earnings, lost benefits, lost earnings prior to the claim, attorney fees, emotional distress, and other forms of non-economic damages. The settlement amount per discrimination case will always vary when it comes to these damages.
But what’s important to keep in mind about discrimination in the workplace is that it can also justify compensatory and punitive damages. The above damages would be considered compensatory, but punitive damages are meant to punish an employer that has committed a discriminatory act.
When it comes to punitive damages, there are limitations on how much an employee can sue for, and these limitations will depend upon the size of the employer’s company:
- 15-100 employees = $50,000 limit
- 101-200 employees = $100,000 limit
- 201-500 employees = $200,000 limit
- 500+ employees = $300,000 limit
Under New York State Law, Protected Classes Include:
- Race or color
- Age
- Religion/creed
- physical or mental disability
- Gender/Gender identity
- Sexual orientation
- Immigration status/Country of origin
- Arrest record
- Familial status (including pregnancy)
- Marital status
- Military service and status
What Laws Protect New Yorkers From Employment Discrimination?
The most important federal laws that protect employees throughout New York City and New York State from discrimination include the following:
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
- Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
- Equal Pay Act
- Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA)
- Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)
- New York City Human Rights Law
- New York State Human Rights Law
Where Do I File My Discrimination Claim?
In the case that your discrimination case is covered by New York City and New York State laws, you can file your discrimination claim through the New York State Division of Human Rights, the New York City Human Rights Commission, or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).It’s important to note that there are different laws oriented around company sizes and types of discrimination, which is why you’ll undoubtedly require the guidance of our experienced employment discrimination attorneys. Our law firm is lead by an industry-leading New York City discrimination lawyer that will thoroughly analyze the parameters of your unique situation and provide you with the best strategy for legal action.
If for any reason a government agency cannot fully resolve your discrimination complaint, you’ll have the legal right to sue in court. Successful discrimination lawsuits will provide plaintiffs with a full and fair settlement that adequately compensates for all subsequent damages that an employee incurred due to the discriminatory actions.
How Our Nyc Discrimination Lawyer Can Help With Your Case
The Giordano Law Offices Personal Injury & Employment Lawyers have supported countless victims of workplace discrimination, and we’ll be more than happy to answer your questions and set you up with our esteemed New York City discrimination lawyer for further legal assistance.
Contact us online or call/text us at 646-217-0749 to get in touch with an NYC discrimination lawyer via a free consultation today.
The Giordano Law Firm was founded by Attorney Jack Giordano. Mr. Jack Giordano is the managing partner and principal at the Giordano Law Firm.