More than a Reasonable Accommodation: The New York City Human Rights Law’s Protections for Workers with Disabilities
Posted October 7th, 2020 by Russell Kornblith in Employment Discrimination.
Many Americans are familiar with the formulation “reasonable accommodation,” which the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers to make on for employees who have a disability. The ADA is a federal law. Less well known is that New York City has its own counterpart law that protects employees with disabilities. The New York City […]
Recent Development: New York City Prohibits Discrimination Based on Hair
Posted April 1st, 2019 by Saba Bireda in Employment Discrimination.
Every few months, social media is set ablaze with reports of an African-American employee, usually a woman, told by her boss to change her hair or face disciplinary action or termination. For example, in January, Brittany Noble, a black female news anchor in Jackson, Mississippi, alleged that she was fired for wearing her natural hair […]
Justice Delayed: The Federal Shutdown’s Effect on Employment Discrimination
Posted January 14th, 2019 by Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLP in Employment Discrimination.
The longest federal shutdown in U.S. history is having devastating effects, placing hundreds of thousands of federal workers in economic peril and potentially crippling the delivery of basic services for Native American tribes. It has also shut down the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), delaying Americans from receiving justice where their employers have illegally […]
Can You Be Fired For Your Political Beliefs?
Posted July 23rd, 2018 by Christine Dunn in Employment Discrimination.
In today’s political climate, we have all seen how heated political debates can get. A perfectly pleasant Thanksgiving dinner with family can instantly turn hostile once the topic of politics comes up. But what happens when that political fervor carries over into the workplace? Can a private sector employee be fired for his or her […]
District of Columbia Voters Approved Eliminating the Tipped Minimum Wage in an Effort to Combat Wage Theft, but the Popular Measure May be Annulled
Posted July 16th, 2018 by Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLP in Wages and Overtime Law.
Hourly workers’ paychecks can be unpredictable, varying drastically depending on their hours. Unscrupulous employers exploit this variance to short hourly employees of their full wages for their labor, often undetected. Tipped workers in most states are uniquely vulnerable to wage theft. Most tipped workers earn a reduced hourly rate – in Washington, D.C., the tipped […]
Legislative Update: DC’s Universal Paid Leave Amendment Act of 2016
Posted March 12th, 2018 by Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLP in Employment Discrimination.
As part of the national trend to pass state and local laws guaranteeing private-sector workers paid leave for family and caregiving responsibilities, Washington D.C. is poised to join California, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Washington state in offering this benefit. And I’m not alone in saying: it’s about time. A study conducted by […]
New York City Fast Food and Retail Workers Look Forward to Fair Scheduling and Work Hours
Posted June 6th, 2017 by Michael Palmer in Wages and Overtime Law.
New York City workers and employee advocates cheered as the city last week passed legislation designed to protect some of its most vulnerable workers. After being approved by the City Council on May 24, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the Fair Work Week legislative package into law on May 30, 2017, stating that “thousands of […]
Continuing Race and Gender Pay Gaps Prompt New Responses
Posted June 1st, 2017 by Thomas J. Henderson in Employment Discrimination.
The fact that women, and black and Hispanic employees of all genders, continue to be paid less for the same work is gaining increasing national attention and is the focus of a variety of new laws, regulations, and lawsuits.[1] Evidence of Continuing Pay Disparities Data from the census show that large racial and gender pay […]
Under NYC’s Freelance Isn’t Free Act, Freelance Workers Can Recover for Late/Unpaid Wages and Retaliation
Posted May 31st, 2017 by Nicole Wiitala in Wages and Overtime Law.
On May 15, 2017, the Freelance Isn’t Free Act went into effect in New York City, providing freelance workers with a statutory basis to recover in court for late or unpaid wages, retaliation, or other violations of the Act. Subject to a few exceptions, the Act applies to any individual (regardless of immigration status) who […]
What Are My Rights as an Employee Under the New York City Human Rights Law?
Posted May 3rd, 2017 by Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLP in Employment Discrimination.
Employees around the country who are being discriminated against on a prohibited basis, such as sex or race, may bring race discrimination, sex discrimination, age discrimination, and disability discrimination claims in federal court under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Equal Pay Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and Americans with Disabilities […]
New Laws Prohibit Employers from Asking Job Applicants about Their Salary Histories
Posted April 26th, 2017 by David Tracey in Gender Discrimination and Harassment.
In the past year, lawmakers in Puerto Rico, Massachusetts, New York City, and Philadelphia have passed “salary history laws.” These new laws make it illegal for employers to ask job applicants about their current salaries or the salaries they earned at previous jobs. To put it simply, these laws take your salary history off the […]