Yonkers Race Discrimination

Workplace Rights Attorneys Advocating for Yonkers Residents

Yonkers is home to about 200,000 people, of whom only about 55% are white. African Americans make up 19% of the population. Native Americans and Asians make up about 7%. Other races make up 14%, and biracial people make up about 4% of the population. When you go to work, you expect to be judged on merit, rather than your racial background. Unfortunately, some employers do make important employment decisions based on the race of employees rather than their work performance. In some cases, they put into place seemingly neutral policies that have an outsized impact on certain employees because of their racial background. If you believe that you have been harmed by race discrimination, you should contact the Yonkers race discrimination lawyers at Phillips & Associates. We are dedicated to fighting for workers' rights.

Remedies for Victims of Race Discrimination

Federal and state laws provide remedies if you are a victim of race discrimination. Race discrimination occurs when an employer treats an employee adversely due to his or her actual or perceived race. For example, if you are passed up for a promotion because your supervisor believes that you are black, whether or not you are, you may have a viable race discrimination claim. Often, race discrimination is linked to color discrimination, but it can include discrimination based on other phenotype traits, such as shape of nose or texture of hair. Sometimes there is an overlap among race discrimination, color discrimination, national origin discrimination, and religious discrimination. Employment decisions that may constitute racial discrimination if the impetus for the decision was race include layoffs, failure to hire, firing, failure to promote, permitting workplace racial harassment to continue, or segregation of workers based on race.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 governs employers that have a minimum of 15 employees. To sue for race discrimination under Title VII, a race discrimination attorney in Yonkers must first file a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This is the federal agency that enforces Title VII and provides guidance about how Title VII should be interpreted.

However, if you work for a smaller employer, your attorney can sue for race discrimination under the New York State Human Rights Law, which applies to employers that have a minimum of four employees. Unlike with Title VII, you do not need to file an administrative charge first. However, you cannot recover punitive damages under the state law.

Harassment Based on Race

Sometimes race discrimination takes the form of racial harassment and a hostile work environment. When coworkers, supervisors, customers, or clients create a hostile work environment for an employee due to his or her race, there may be a basis for a Yonkers race discrimination attorney to sue for damages. A hostile work environment is created when harassing conduct or words, including racial slurs, racist images, derogatory remarks, symbols, physical violence, or insults, are either severe or pervasive. Usually, these claims are successful when there is a pattern of harassment, rather than a single incident. However, even a single incident may form the basis of a lawsuit.

If you are a victim of racial harassment, you should give your employer an opportunity to correct the situation. Employment handbooks often include grievance procedures that should be followed in order to report harassment. However, if there is no procedure specified (or no handbook), you should notify HR both verbally and in writing. An employer should take corrective measures if you are being harassed, and if it has notice. If it does not take appropriate steps, you may be able to hold it liable.

You may be able to recover damages for race discrimination under either Title VII or the New York State Human Rights Law. These remedies can include back pay, front pay (or reinstatement), and compensatory damages.

Get Advice from a Race Discrimination Lawyer in Yonkers

At Phillips & Associates, our experienced attorneys help employees who have struggled with race discrimination in all of its forms, ranging from termination to harassment. If you believe that you have been a victim of employment discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, contact us at (866) 229-9441 or through our online form for a free consultation.