Joshua M. Friedman

• Member of the National Employment Lawyers' Association/NY
• Member of New York City Bar Association
• Member of New York Bar
• Member of Massachusetts Bar

Joshua M. Friedman is a New York City employment attorney at Phillips & Associates and an advocate for employees wronged by their employers. He graduated from Bentley University with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Finance in 2009. He graduated from Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center with a Juris Doctor in May 2012. He is admitted to the New York Bar and Massachusetts Bar and is also admitted to the Eastern and Southern District Courts of New York.

Joshua started his career working at an employment litigation firm representing federal government employees in employment-related disputes. Prior to joining Phillips and Associates Joshua also served as Senior Counsel for the New York City Law Department, where he resolved over 80 federal actions and tried four cases to verdict. Joshua has extensive appearances appearing in federal courts of the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York through all phases of discovery, motion practice, and trial.

Joshua’s practice focuses on employment-related disputes including discrimination in the workplace. Discrimination occurs when an adverse employment decision is made based on an employee’s membership in a protected class, rather than his or her qualifications and experience. For example, if you are qualified but have been repeatedly passed over for a promotion to a management-level position because you are a woman since your boss does not think that women are appropriate for leadership roles, you may have a claim of sex discrimination.

The federal anti-discrimination laws include Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). Many of the federal anti-discrimination laws are enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Your employer needs to be mid-sized or large to be covered by the federal laws enforced by the EEOC. For example, Title VII, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, and sex, only applies to employers that have at least 15 employees. Damages are capped in lawsuits brought under the federal laws enforced by the EEOC. The cap is based on the size of the company.

The state anti-discrimination law is the New York State Human Rights Law. The local anti-discrimination law is the New York City Human Rights Law. City law is widely considered one of the most progressive in the nation. Employers in New York City with a minimum of four employees are required to comply with the city law, even if employees are part-time and temporary, and even if they are unpaid interns or paid off the books. Under the city law, employers are not allowed to discriminate on the basis of a job applicant or employee’s race, color, pregnancy, disability, gender, age, arrest or conviction record, immigration status, caregiver status, credit history, salary history, gender identity or expression, marital or partnership status, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, status as a current or former military service member, unemployment status, or status as a domestic violence victim or a victim of sexual violence or stalking.

The New York City Human Rights Law mandates that a complaint be filed within a year of the last purported discriminatory act. When sexual harassment is involved, you have three years from the last incident of harassment to file a complaint. The discriminatory or harassing acts need to have taken place inside or have enough of a connection to the New York City boroughs to file a complaint.

Most employers have more resources than their employees do, and it can be challenging to fight back against discrimination, harassment, or retaliation on your own. Joshua and our other skillful trial lawyers may be able to help you recover damages. Call Phillips & Associates at (866) 229-9441 or contact us through our online form. We litigate employment cases in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx, as well as Long Island, Westchester County, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.