Are you being treated differently by your employer because of your age, race, gender, your national origin, disability or because your employer believes you are disabled, or because of your sexual orientation, pregnancy, or religion? If so, you may be the victim of employment discrimination, which is prohibited by federal, state and city laws. Employment discrimination occurs when employers, or their agents, treat employees differently because they are members of one of these "protected" groups.Furthermore, employers who know coworkers are harassing or discriminating against you, or treating you differently, because you're a member of a protected group, must take steps to prevent the improper behavior from occurring or continuing. Additionally, employers are prohibited from retaliating against an employee for reporting or complaining about such discrimination, filing a lawsuit due to discrimination, or participating in an investigation of such discrimination.

Employees are protected from employee discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and by other state, and city Human Rights Laws, and through an extensive body of laws designed to protect you from conduct that our legislatures and courts have identified as improper.

Only by way of example, you should be aware that, among other things, employers cannot discriminate against an employee, in matters involving:

• hiring and firing
• promotion, demotion, transfer
• compensation
• assignment or classification of employees
• layoff, reduction in force (RIF), forced retirement
• job advertisements and recruitment
• testing
• use of company facilities
• training and apprenticeship programs
• retirement plans, health/medical, and fringe benefits
• disability leave and severance

You are protected by the employment discrimination laws only if you are a member of a protected class, namely, a person that the particular law covers. Your employer must violate a specific city law, or a state or federal statute, regulation or constitutional provision for the discrimination to be unlawful or illegal. In other words, unless your employer treats you differently, or unfairly, for a reason that is protected by law, you are generally not protected from a mean or difficult boss, however unfair it may seem. Therefore, although such treatment might be unfair and unprofessional behavior for an employer, it is not always discrimination under the law.

You must be in a protected class when the conduct occurs, and the conduct must be sufficiently severe to reach a level that would permit a court to accept your claim as actionable. Therefore, it may be sensible for you to obtain legal advice, when the conduct first occurs, so that an attorney can help you determine whether the conduct, about which you complain, might reasonably be considered unlawful.

It is important to be aware that discrimination claims are not normally based upon conduct that is done openly and obviously. There is not usually a smoking gun. More frequently, it is covered up and camouflaged by a pretext. If you believe that you are being picked on unfairly or treated differently from others because of your gender, race, national origin, your age, religion, or because of your disability or perceived disability, or your sexual orientation, or because you are pregnant, do not ignore or disregard your feelings or beliefs, even though the employer will have a different version of those events, such as arguing about your performance, when it should not genuinely be an issue. Discuss your beliefs with an attorney who would be able to address your concerns.

If you care to, we would be pleased to discuss your concerns with you, in an effort to determine whether we believe an issue genuinely exists, one that we would be willing to pursue further with you. An interview for that purpose alone is done without cost to you. You do not have to tolerate your employers wrongful acts, nor do you have to wait for something to happen before you contact an attorney. Frequently, waiting only leads to the escalation of the discriminatory acts against you. In fact, the longer you wait to contact an attorney, the more difficult the situation at your workplace will be for you, and for your attorney to resolve. Therefore, as soon as issues of employment discrimination arise, as soon as you have concerns, then it might be wise to contact an attorney to guide you through the appropriate steps that would help you reach the right answers so that you can protect your rights to a workplace that should be free of unlawful discrimination.

We would be pleased to discuss your concerns or issues with you. We are committed to our mission of excellence in serving you by protecting your employment rights.

If you have been discriminated against in your workplace, call us now at 212-889-6565 or contact us online.