Failure to Provide Goods and Services Based on Gender

Gender Discrimination Lawyers Helping New York City Residents

The New York City Commission on Human Rights protects people from being subjected to discrimination or harassment in public accommodations based on a number of different protected characteristics, including gender. Any entity that provides goods or services to the general public is a public accommodation under city law. It is illegal for a public accommodation to fail to provide you with goods or services based on your gender. If you faced an establishment's failure to provide goods and services based on gender, you should consult the New York City gender discrimination attorneys at Phillips & Associates.

Failure to Provide Goods and Services Based on Gender

Both the New York State Human Rights Law and the New York City Human Rights Law are broad in terms of which people they try to protect from discrimination in public accommodations. Under state law, it is illegal for an owner, proprietor, lessee, superintendent, employee, or agent of any place of public accommodation to refuse or withhold goods or services from someone based on their sex or sexual orientation. It allows anyone harmed by a violation of this law to bring a civil lawsuit for damages and any other appropriate remedies.

Similarly, the New York City Human Rights Law allows anybody who has been aggrieved by illegal discriminatory practices in public accommodations to sue for damages, including punitive damages, as well as for injunctive relief and other appropriate remedies. In most cases, city law is more expansive than state law. If discrimination occurs in a New York City establishment, it is usually more advantageous to apply city law, but it is important to consult an attorney about your situation.

Public accommodations under city law are a broad category that includes retail stores, medical or dental practices, banks, hair salons, nail salons, government agencies, theaters, hotels, restaurants, taxis, and schools. There is an exemption for establishments that are distinctly private. The hallmark of a private place is that it is selective or exclusive, and the people trying to get the benefit of this exemption bear the burden of showing the court that their accommodation should be considered distinctly private.

Under the New York City Human Rights Law, it is illegal for a public accommodation to discriminate against you on the basis of gender. Gender under this law is defined as your actual or perceived sex and also includes your self-image, appearance, gender identity, behavior, or gender expression, regardless of whether those things are distinct from what is traditionally associated with the sex that you were assigned when you were born. In other words, discrimination based on your sex, gender identity, gender expression, or transgender status constitutes gender discrimination under city law. Discrimination because you are intersex is also prohibited. It does not matter whether you express a gender different from the one that you were assigned at birth; you are still protected against being treated less well than others on account of your gender under the New York City Human Rights Law.

It is illegal for any of these businesses that are held open to the public to refuse you goods or services due to your gender. For example, if a retail store refuses to sell you condoms because you are a woman, this would be an illegal failure to provide goods based on gender. For another example, if a nail salon refuses to provide you with nail services because you present as a man, this may also be an illegal failure to provide goods and services. For yet another example, if a doctor refuses to see you in his practice because you are intersex, this would likely be gender discrimination in violation of the New York City Human Rights Law.

Get Assistance from a New York City Lawyer Following Discriminatory Conduct

At Phillips & Associates, our experienced attorneys help clients with many different cases based on public accommodation discrimination, including failures to provide goods and services based on gender. If you believe that you have been a victim of discrimination or harassment, contact us at (866) 229-9441 or through ouronline form for a free consultation. We handle litigation throughout New York City, including in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, as well as in Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties and in New Jersey.