Yonkers Employment Law

Experienced Advocates for Employee Rights Helping Yonkers Residents

Yonkers, also known as the City of Seven Hills, is the fourth-most populated city in New York. Its population is about 200,000 residents. As of 2000, a Yonkers household's median income was about $45,000. Employees should be judged on their work performance. Job applicants should be judged on their resumes and references. We may trust that we will be evaluated based on our conduct and work, but unfortunately employers are sometimes bigoted or guided by stereotypes rather than individual merit. If your employer terminates you, fails to hire you, or makes another employment decision based on a protected characteristic under federal or state law, it may be liable for damages. At Phillips & Associates, our aggressive Yonkers employment lawyers represent employees who have been harmed by discrimination or harassment.

We handle employment lawsuits arising from sexual harassment as well as discrimination based on any of the following characteristics, among others:

• Sexual orientation
• Sex/gender
• Pregnancy
• Race/color
• Disability
• National origin
• Criminal conviction
• Age

Sexual Harassment

One of the most common forms of workplace discrimination is sexual harassment. Sexual harassment can include any kind of intimidating or offensive images, comments, jokes, innuendoes, touching, groping, threats, assault, or rape. Sexual harassment is forbidden under both Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the New York State Human Rights Law. The latter prohibits harassment regardless of the size of the employer. Generally, sexual harassment takes the form of quid pro quo, which is only perpetrated by an authority in the workplace, or hostile work environment.

Race Discrimination

Race discrimination is prohibited under Title VII and the New York State Human Rights Law. It occurs when an employer makes an adverse employment decision based on an employee’s actual or perceived race. It can also include racial harassment. Race discrimination lawsuits can be based on disparate treatment, but they can also involve a neutral policy or practice that has a disparate impact based on race.

Sex Discrimination

It is illegal to discriminate against employees on the basis of their sex, and our employment attorneys can help Yonkers residents bring a claim if this happens to them. Sex discrimination happens when an employer bases an employment decision on an employee’s sex, rather than merit or performance. Both Title VII and the New York State Human Rights Law prohibit sex discrimination. For example, if you are a woman who is not promoted to a director position while less qualified men are, you may be facing sex discrimination. Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination.

Disability Discrimination

Disability discrimination is prohibited in New York workplaces under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the New York State Human Rights Law. Disability discrimination occurs when an employer makes an adverse employment decision based on an employee or job applicant's disability. It also includes a refusal to provide a disabled job applicant or employee with a reasonable accommodation. Reasonable accommodations are alterations to the workplace or how things are done that accommodate a disability without creating an undue burden.

Age Discrimination

Under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), your employer cannot discriminate against you if you are 40 or older, and the employer has a minimum of 20 employees. Under the New York State Human Rights Law, your employer or prospective employer is not supposed to discriminate against you if you are at least 18 years old, and the employer has a minimum of four employees. However, if age is a bona fide occupational qualification, an employer may take that into account under state and federal laws.

Nationality Discrimination

Nationality discrimination happens when a job applicant or employee is treated adversely based on their actual or perceived national origin, or their accent, ethnicity, or ancestry. Sometimes there is also an overlap with religious or race discrimination. For example, if a prospective employer does not hire you because you wear a hijab, and he assumes that you are from Iraq, this may be both nationality discrimination and religious discrimination.

Religious Discrimination

Religious discrimination is prohibited under Title VII and the New York State Human Rights Law. It happens when a prospective employer or employer makes an adverse employment decision based on your religion or creed. Our Yonkers employment attorneys can help you pursue a reasonable accommodation for your religious beliefs, as long as providing the accommodation would not cause more than a minimal burden on your employer's business.

Pregnancy Discrimination

Pregnancy discrimination happens when an employer discriminates against an employee due to her pregnancy, pregnancy-related condition, labor, or childbirth. It is prohibited under federal and state laws. Under the New York State Human Rights Law, you are entitled to reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related conditions. If your condition qualifies as a disability under the federal definition, you may also be eligible for a reasonable accommodation under the ADA.

Sexual Orientation Discrimination

Sexual orientations include being heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or asexual. Federal law does not have explicit protections against sexual orientation discrimination, but the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which administers Title VII, has commented that sexual orientation discrimination is a type of sex discrimination. SONDA has an express prohibition against workplace sexual orientation discrimination, which occurs whenever an employer takes an adverse action against a job applicant or employee based on their sexual orientation.

Wrongful Termination

Employers are free to fire and hire at will. However, they cannot violate statutes or contracts when terminating an employee. You can sue for wrongful termination if you are fired because of a protected characteristic, in retaliation for engaging in a protected activity (such as complaining about discrimination), or in violation of an employment contract that required that you only be fired for just cause during a certain time period.

Hostile Work Environment

Hostile work environment is one form of harassment. It occurs under federal and state laws when an employee is harassed due to a protected characteristic, and the harassment is so severe or so pervasive that the terms of employment are altered.

Retaliation

Retaliation is prohibited under anti-discrimination laws, such as the New York State Human Rights Law and laws enforced by the EEOC. A current or prospective employer cannot terminate you or take another adverse employment action against you because you participated in a protected activity, such as complaining about harassment or discrimination.

Criminal Conviction Discrimination

The New York State Human Rights Law prohibits discrimination against job applicants and employees based on arrests and criminal convictions under certain circumstances. A prospective employer is not allowed to ask you about any arrests that did not result in a conviction, except in some narrow situations. Moreover, employers that want to deny a job due to (1) a direct relationship between the prior offense and the type of job or (2) an unreasonable risk of harm to welfare, safety, or property need to use an eight-step analysis to decide whether or not to hire a job applicant who has a prior conviction.

Consult a Dedicated Employment Lawyer in Yonkers or Surrounding Areas

At Phillips & Associates, our experienced attorneys counsel and represent people who have faced misconduct in the workplace in Yonkers. To start discussing your case, contact us at (866) 229-9441 or through our online form for a free case evaluation. 

• Criminal Conviction Discrimination
• Employment Discrimination
• Hostile Work Environment
• Retaliation
• Sexual Harassment
• Wrongful Termination