Humberto Alvarez

Humberto Alvarez is a paralegal with Phillips & Associates. As a paralegal with our firm, he is an integral part of our legal team, which is dedicated to fighting for workers’ rights. He prepares filings for the court, ensures these filings are timely and meet all procedural requirements, and renders translation services for Spanish-speaking clients. Some companies represent both employers and employees but understanding the power differential between a worker and his employer, our firm only represents the worker. If your employer treated you adversely due to your membership in a protected class in New York City, you should discuss your situation with the seasoned New York City employment discrimination lawyers of Phillips & Associates. We provide free consultations.

Mr. Alvarez graduated from St. John’s University with a Bachelor of Science in computer science with a mathematics minor. He has skills in MS Office, Word, and Excel. He also has a background in legal research, graphic design, and various types of software. Mr. Alvarez has also amassed experience as a paralegal at different litigation firms. He conducted legal research, reviewed files, drafted documents, filed documents with the court, drafted discovery, performed cite checking, drafted and filed judgments, arranged trial binders, and provided translation services at various large law firms prior to joining Phillips & Associates. He is fluent in Spanish.

Employment Discrimination

Federal, state and local laws prohibit employment discrimination. Employment discrimination exists when you are treated adversely due to your membership in a protected class. It can occur in connection with failure to hire, termination, demotion, disparate pay, layoffs, and or any other term, condition, or privilege of employment. One of the primary federal anti-discrimination laws is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Protected characteristics include race, color, sex, religion, and national origin. For instance, you may be able to recover damages if you were terminated because you are Asian American because of your employer’s misapprehensions about COVID-19. Similarly, you may have been able to sue for damages if you were demoted because you are transgender.

The federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibit discrimination based on disability. The law requires your employer to provide reasonable accommodations based on your disability unless doing so would pose an undue hardship.

The New York State Human Rights Law and the New York City Human Rights Law also forbid employment discrimination. They tend to provide a more generous scope of protection. They apply to smaller companies.

Harassment

Harassment is prohibited under federal, state, and local laws; each law defines harassment a little differently. Under the New York State Human Rights Law, workplace harassment is illegal whenever you are subjected to inferior terms, conditions, or privileges of employment due to a protected characteristic. Unlike federal law, harassment doesn’t need to be severe or pervasive for us to demonstrate your employer’s liability. However, an employer can defend itself on the grounds that the actions in question weren’t more than petty slights or trivial inconveniences. Our attorneys will not need to point out a similarly situated person or employee who was treated more favorably. Under state law, you don’t need to complain to your employer or file a formal grievance to demonstrate liability.

Retaliation

It is illegal for your employer to take adverse action against you because you opposed an illegal discriminatory practice, you made a charge or filed a complaint of discrimination with the New York City Commission on Human Rights, or you testified or participated in an investigation or proceeding related to something forbidden by the New York City Human Rights Law. Importantly, the city law shields you from retaliation so long as you hold a reasonable good faith belief that your employer’s actions were illegal, even if the court disagrees with you about those actions. For instance, if you believe you were harassed due to your religion and the court decides that the conduct in question doesn’t rise to the level of actionable harassment, but you were terminated because you filed a complaint with HR and the EEOC, you may be able to recover damages for retaliation. Mr. Alvarez and our lawyers can work in tandem to make sure your interests are properly protected whether we’re suing based on discrimination, harassment, or retaliation.

Call Our Dedicated Plaintiff’s Firm for a Free Consultation

As a paralegal with Phillips & Associates, Humberto Alvarez works hard to help the firm’s attorneys secure justice for those who have been made victims of employment discrimination and harassment. You should retain a New York City law firm with a record of success when you believe you’ve been discriminated against or sexually harassed by your employer. At Phillips and Associates, we represent victims of discrimination in companies located in Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Suffolk County, and Nassau County, among other places. Fill out our online form or contact us at (866) 229-9441.