Employment law in New York City helps any employee who has been the victim of discrimination, wrongfully terminated, the victim of wage and hour compensation issues, retaliated against, sexually harassed, denied family medical leave, a whistleblower, or dealing with employee contract issues, and more. Employment lawyers are meant to help employees make sure they are afforded the rights that the law provides by their employers and their workplace. For the past 25 years, the Derek Smith Law Group has helped employees in New York City get justice when their employer violated employee protections in the workplace.
Employment law in New York City are the rights and protections afforded to employees and job applicants in the workplace. These laws include several issues including:
1. Discrimination. Discrimination in the workplace in New York City is when an employee or job applicant is treated unfairly or harassed because he or she is of a certain ethnic background, age, military status, citizenship status, sexual orientation, gender, has a disability, is pregnant, or has a genetic disorder. This is known as a protected class because the law protects people in any of the categories.
2. Wage and Hour Issues. Wage and hour issues encompass a number of issues relating to proper compensation and deductions of employees. It includes issues such as misclassifying employees as sub-contractors or exempt employees, which would deny employees overtime pay as well as allow employers to deny payment of taxes and benefits. It can also include employers deducting money from employee checks for unlawful expenses and reasons. New York City insists employees be properly compensated and classified.
3. Sexual Harassment. Sexual harassment in the workplace is unwanted physical contact or sexual advances, sexism, and jokes or derogatory comments of a sexual nature. The claims for sexual harassment can come from an employer/CEO, fellow employee, supervisor/manager, or even a non-employee.
4. Retaliation. If an employer fires, demotes, reduces the pay of, calls ICE, or otherwise treats unfairly, any employee who refuses sexual advances, reports wrongdoing, or files a claim of discrimination, the employee has been retaliated against. This is illegal in New York City.
5. Wrongful Termination. An employee cannot be terminated for being part of a protected class, refusing sexual advances, as retaliation, or for being a whistleblower. If the employee is terminated for any of these reasons, he or she is the victim of wrongful termination.
6. Whistleblower Claims. If you work for a government agency or a company that receives government funding of any kind, you have the right to report events of company or supervisor wrongdoing to a party that can do something about the wrongdoing. Your rights to anonymity and employment protection are protected under the Whistleblower laws in New York City.
7. Family Leave Act. The Federal Family Leave Act allows an employee to take time off of work to care for an ill family member or to bond with a newborn or adopted child without the fear of losing his or her employment. New York City has a paid family leave law that allows an employee to take up to 8 weeks of paid time off from work to help a sick family member or bond with a newborn baby or adopted child. Not all employers will abide by such laws and the employees that are not allowed the rights afforded under the law can hire an employment law attorney to help receive justice for this offense.
8. Employment Contracts. Employees may sign a contract when taking a position in New York City. Employees may also sign non-compete clauses. However, that does not mean that every aspect of the contract or clauses is enforceable. An employment law attorney can help navigate the issues that may or may not be enforceable under an employment contract or non-compete clause.
Employment law issues, as mentioned above, include many events that can occur in or out of the workplace. To know if you have an employment law case, you may wonder what constitutes an employment law issue. Here are some examples that can be employment law issues in the workplace:
- Wrongful termination occurring when an employer learns you are Gay or Lesbian
- Retaliation against an employee for refusing sexual advances
- Retaliation against an employee by calling ICE
- Continually asking an employee out of a date after the employee repeatedly says no
- Spreading rumors about an employee that refused sexual advances
- Demoting a person because of their age if they are over 40
- Classifying an employee who is not a supervisor or who makes under $25,000 a year as an exempt employee
- Demanding to know the identity of a Whistleblower
- Firing a whistleblower
- Creating a non-compete clause that limits a past employee’s ability to obtain gainful employment in his or her field
- Firing an employee who has been approved to take Paid Family Leave during the allowed leave time frame
- Making jokes about race in the office
- Refusing to hire a job applicant because of his or her race, national origin, military status, or any other protected status
- Denying a pregnant job applicant use of public accommodations
- Refusing to make accommodations for an employee with any disabilities
Each type of employment law issue may come with different types of remedies. However, in general, most employment law issues can receive the following relief from the court:
- Reinstatement of employment and benefits
- Reimbursement of medical premiums
- Attorney’s fees
- Reimbursement of medical and other related expenses.
- Back pay
- Future pay
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Review of company policy and revamping of policies
- Punitive damages
Certain issues, such as whistleblower claims, may come with other types of remedies. For instance, in New York City, a whistleblower who files a successful claim can receive 15% to 25% of any recovery when the state intervenes in the case. If the state chooses not to intervene and the whistleblower continues with the claim on his or her own, the claim can receive 25% to 30% of the recovery.
In addition, in wage and hour cases, any settlement issued by the court is entitled to treble damages. That means if the damages were 2 million dollars, the plaintiff is entitled to 8 million dollars (or 2 million and 3×2 million).
Employees in New York City are entitled to work in an environment free from discrimination, compensation issues, and breaches of the law. If you are a victim of any type of employment law issue, the experienced attorneys at the Derek Smith Law Group in New York City can help. Contact us today at (212) 587-0760 for a free consultation. We do not collect any money until you win your case.