Working with a knowledgeable New York sex/gender discrimination lawyer can produce many benefits. While you may view the discrimination you endured as arising due to one specific reason or basis, your skilled legal counsel may identify other discrimination law violations giving rise to multiple causes of action. Asserting every reasonable claim is vitally important, as your employer likely will seek to get your case thrown out before trial. The more potential bases for compensation you have, the greater your odds of getting your case to trial and holding the wrongdoers accountable.
Additionally, your experienced discrimination attorney may spot types of discrimination you perhaps did not know you could pursue. Both the New York State Human Rights Law and New York City Human Rights Law allow workers to pursue intersectional discrimination claims, which means alleging that discrimination occurred due to the worker’s presence in a subgroup combining two protected classes – such as Black LGBTQ+ people, East Asian women, older White workers, etc.
A recent discrimination case involving a Russian operatic diva and a New York City opera company demonstrates both concepts in action.
The performer was a famous soprano who sued the world-renowned opera company after the latter canceled the former’s contract. The opera company dropped the Russian-born performer, who had made statements supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin on many occasions over the years, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The singer spoke out against the war in Ukraine but refused “to issue a statement denouncing Putin… using specific language… provided” by the opera company.
The performer sued in federal court, alleging multiple civil wrongs, including national origin discrimination, gender discrimination, defamation, and breach of contract. The singer’s NYSHRL and NYCHRL discrimination claims centered on the opera company’s post-invasion policy of refusing to work with “artists or institutions that support Putin or are supported by him,” and the company’s implementation of that policy.
What 'Facially Discriminatory' Means
The court rejected the singer’s contention that the policy was facially discriminatory against Russian performers. When a worker alleges an instance of “facial discrimination,” that worker must prove that the employer (or hiring entity) had a policy that effectively says members of a protected class “need not apply.”
As the court noted, the company’s policy did not do that. Non-Russians could run afoul of the policy (and fall on the opera’s blacklist) if they expressed support for President Putin. Likewise, the policy left open the possibility of using Russian performers if they explicitly disavowed Putin.
Despite the obvious connection between the policy and nationality or national origin, the singer wisely did not limit her discrimination claims solely to those alleging facial discrimination based on national origin. The performer’s complaint also laid out claims that the company discriminated against her as a Russian woman.
'As Applied' Discrimination and the Importance of 'Comparators'
The singer’s case asserted that the company fired her – its ‘reigning prima donna’ – as “a way to demonstrate its commitment to support Ukraine… and firmly establish [its] new anti-Russia brand,” but did not drop or take adverse action against its male Russian performers, which allegedly included men who “received support from, or expressed support for, Putin and/or the Russian government, including by performing at Russian state-funded theaters and/or performing at Russian political events.”
As is true in any discrimination case where the worker alleges a policy was discriminatory not on its face but as applied, having strong “comparator” evidence is often crucial. A “comparator” is someone similarly situated to you at work except that (1) he/she was outside your protected class and (2) was treated more favorably. The soprano offered four male Russian singers who allegedly had connections to President Putin and/or the Russian government. According to the soprano, the opera company dropped none of the four after Russia invaded Ukraine, even without public statements from the men repudiating President Putin. That, according to the court, demonstrated a potentially viable sex-plus-national-origin discrimination claim.
At Phillips & Associates, our experienced New York sex/gender discrimination attorneys know that discrimination comes in many varieties and not all of those types fall neatly into a single classification like “discrimination against older people,” “discrimination against people with disabilities,” “discrimination against caregivers,” etc. Sometimes, sex/gender discrimination does not happen simply because you are a woman, but because you are a specific type of woman. Black women, for example, may experience workplace discrimination that their White female and Black male colleagues do not. Occurrences of intersectional sex/gender discrimination are just as illegal as any other discrimination, and those who have endured them are just as entitled to justice. To learn more about your options, contact us online or at (833) 529-3476 to set up a free and confidential consultation.