Sexual Orientation Discrimination & Gender Identity Discrimination
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“El-Hag helped me recover $100,000 in unpaid overtime because the time spent traveling was not paid”
SEXUAL ORIENTATION DISCRIMINATION & GENDER IDENTITY DISCRIMINATION IN THE WORKPLACE LAWYER NY
We’ve helped employees just like you recover millions in damages. We can help you too!
While there are laws that are passed to secure safety and security for LGBT people in the workplace there is still a long way to go before LGBT people can feel completely safe and secure at work. It wasn’t until 2003 that the US Supreme Court ruled that sexual orientation discrimination is a form of sex discrimination. Unfortunately, this landmark decision hasn’t led to an end to workplace discrimination against gay and lesbian employees. In fact, surveys have found that approximately one-third of gay and lesbian employees experience some form of workplace discrimination.
One of the main reasons why LGBT employees experience such rampant discrimination is because many employers believe that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice that is incompatible with work or organizational values. Additionally, many employers believe that all LGBT employees are likely to be sexually promiscuous and/or HIV-positive. Consequently, many LGBT employees are forced to keep their sexuality a secret to maintain their jobs.
While there are laws that are passed to secure safety and security for LGBT people in the workplace there is still a long way to go before LGBT people can feel completely safe and secure at work. It wasn’t until 2003 that the US Supreme Court ruled that sexual orientation discrimination is a form of sex discrimination. Unfortunately, this landmark decision hasn’t led to an end to workplace discrimination against gay and lesbian employees. In fact, surveys have found that approximately one-third of gay and lesbian employees experience some form of workplace discrimination.
One of the main reasons why LGBT employees experience such rampant discrimination is because many employers believe that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice that is incompatible with work or organizational values. Additionally, many employers believe that all LGBT employees are likely to be sexually promiscuous and/or HIV-positive. Consequently, many LGBT employees are forced to keep their sexuality a secret to maintain their jobs.
WHAT IS WORKPLACE SEXUAL ORIENTATION DISCRIMINATION & GENDER IDENTITY DISCRIMINATION
Sexual orientation discrimination and gender identity discrimination violate federal law under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and apply to employers with 15 or more employees, including local and state governments and educational institutions. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the federal agency that enforces Title VII and other anti-discrimination laws.
If you believe you have been the victim of sexual orientation discrimination or Gender Identity discrimination at work, contact our experienced labor and employment workplace discrimination attorney to discuss your case. An attorney can help you determine whether you have a valid claim and what steps to take to protect your rights. Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity discrimination for both women and men can be extremely damaging to someone’s career and mental health, and it is unfortunately very common in the workplace.
You must speak up if you believe you have been the victim of sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination in the workplace. Laws in place protect workers from sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination, and you may be able to file a claim against your employer. Our experienced labor and employment law firm can help you understand your rights and options.
Examples of Workplace Sexual orientation or Gender Identity Discrimination in New York
There are many examples of workplace sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in New York. One typical example is when, for example, heterosexuals or paid more than members of the LGBT community for the same job. This is called the wage gap, and it exists in nearly every industry in New York. Trans women often experience an even more significant wage gap. In other sexual orientation discrimination cases, it may take the form of sexual harassment or a hostile work environment, and Pregnancy that is created by comments or conduct that is directed at employees based on their sexual orientation.
Examples Of Sexual Orientation Discrimination and Gender Identity Discrimination In The Workplace
- Pay disparities based upon sexual orientation
- Promotions and job opportunities that are not equally available and based on sexual orientation
- Failing to provide equal access to development and training opportunities to members of the LGBT community and others based upon sexual orientation
- Harassment such as intimidating comments, gestures, and jokes harassing or intimidating the employee based upon their sexual orientation
- Denial of promotions while employees with less experience are promoted for sexual orientation based reasons
- Employer gives benefits to some employees’ families while not providing benefits to LGBTQ employees’ families because of their sexual orientation
- Denying promotion or hiring of an individual because of their sexual orientation or sexual identity
- Getting Paid less salary than males doing equivalent work
- If in the course of a job interview you are asked about your sexual orientation or gender identity
- Denial of working hours modification request to care for children where the parents are in a same-sex marriage while other employees are granted such requests
What Is Not Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity Discrimination or Harassment
It is not harassment when people in the workplace make petty slights, are generally annoying, or make isolated discriminatory or derogatory remarks (unless extremely serious) about your sexual identity or orientation. To be unlawful, the conduct must create a work environment that would be intimidating, hostile, or offensive to reasonable people.
Sexual Orientation and Gender identity Discrimination. Sexual orientation Discrimination and gender identity discrimination must occur because of your being part of a protected class. For example, an employer can decide that he will fire any person if they come 1 minute late to work, even if it happened only 1 time. But it would be discriminatory if the employer said that he is only going to apply that policy to employees that are members of the LGBT community.
How Do You Win An Workplace Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity Discrimination Lawsuit?
There are several factors that you must prove to win an employment gender identity or sexual orientation discrimination lawsuit. If you can answer yes to the following questions, you may have been a victim of employment discrimination:
1) Do you work at a company with 4 or more employees?
The New York State Human Rights Law only protects employees who work for an employer with 4 or more employees. Federal Law requires that the employer employ more than 15 employees. So, the first thing to check is if you are protected by the law.
2) Did something bad happen to you at work?
- Being fired
- Being laid off
- Not receiving a raise
- Being demoted
- Being passed over for a promotion
- Being harassed at work
3) Are you a member of a protected class?
4) Were you qualified to perform the job at issue?
You must be able to demonstrate that you had the right skill set to perform the job at issue despite your disability.
- An example of being unqualified- is if you apply for a job as a lawyer, but you don’t have a law degree, you won’t be able to say that you were discriminated against if a law firm did not hire you.
- An example of being qualified and passed over in a discriminatory situation would be if you had the same or greater abilities than others who applied for a job position. Both you and the person that is not part of a protected class which includes pregnancy had equal experience working in the position you were applying for. If the other individual was hired, but you were not, the company will have to be able to provide a legitimate reason that you, as a qualified individual were passed over for the job.
5) Does it seem likely that the sexual orientation or gender identity gender discrimination occurred because you are a member of a protected class?
- You were fired BECAUSE of your SEXUAL ORIENTATION or GENDER IDENTIFICATION
- You didn’t get a raise BECAUSE of your SEXUAL ORIENTATION or GENDER IDENTIFICATION
6) Is your employer’s reason for taking the adverse action a lie (“Pretext”)?
Case Results
James
recovered $160,000 in severance pay and left work on his own terms.
Katrina
recovered $60,000 when her employer denied her leave for her disabled child (3 years pay)!
Tony
recovered $50,000 for losing his job after his boss made racists comments!
Monica
recovered $25,000 in unpaid overtime because her boss incorrectly treated her as not entitled to overtime under the law as a salaried office worker.
Manuel
recovered $45,000 as a deli worker because he worked more than 40 hours a week without overtime pay. The boss paid him off the books without paying him any overtime and we recovered an extra $10,000 in penalties.
How We Help You Get the Compensation That You Deserve For Your Workplace Pregnancy Discrimination Case In Just 4-9 Months
Let our Workplace Age Discrimination Law Firm Fight for You
Don’t Let Your Employer Intimidate You From Being Compensated For The Age Discrimination in the Workplace That You Were Subjected To By Threatening Or Scaring You Into Inaction
- You can sue any company you worked for in the past three years. It does not have to be a company at which you are currently working.
- Attorney-Client Privilege- We CANNOT tell anyone about your case unless you ask us to. Your call is 100% confidential and protected by the attorney-client privilege.
- The law protects you. The law prevents retaliation. You can collect unpaid wages and benefits, and penalties, demand your job back, and even demand front pay (money to cover you for the time it would take to find new work.
- Attack only when you’re comfortable. We only move forward when you are ready. There is no pressure to start. You can have your pregnancy discrimination evaluation, come up with a strategy, collect evidence, and begin when you are ready.
Client Reviews
Why clients prefer El-Hag Law
Millions in unpaid wages on behalf of individual clients
Although we have litigated class action lawsuits, nothing makes us happier than handing an individual a check for tens of thousands of dollars. It’s a life-changing experience for most of our clients. That is why we focus on helping the most underserved people and take on the most challenging to win cases. We know how to win these cases and are not afraid to fight on our clients' behalf.
Experience representing employees on an individual or class action basis
Did you know that you could end up receiving less as being part of a class-action lawsuit instead of litigating your case individually? We have handled numerous cases where there are multiple clients, and we know when it would benefit our clients to be part of a class action or not. Generally, class actions benefit the lawyers more than the clients, and we will never put our interest before yours. We always keep our current clients' interests at the forefront of our decisions. Because we have experience handling class action lawsuits and individual lawsuits, we can help you make the right decision for your case.
Will take your case to trial if necessary
The truth is that most lawsuits settle. Many attorneys have no experience going to trial. However, we will. And because we will bring it to trial, we can get better settlements for our clients because other firms know we will go the distance.
Your case is handled by the same person from start to finish
How would you like it if the person who handles your trial is not the person who had all the experience of putting your case together from the beginning? Some law firms will have different people working on different parts of the case to make the firm more efficient. However, in the process, things can fall through the cracks. Not with us. One person handles your case from start to finish, so the representative is personally familiar with all people and facts.
There is an art to winning a lawsuit. How can a person know how a witness will behave at trial if they had no interaction with the witness before the trial date? It's impossible to be effective. These are the kinds of things most people do not know to ask when they are evaluating lawyers. But because we need to win your case to get paid, we make sure that your case does not fall through the cracks.
We care about you and your case
We don't nickel and dime clients for 1-minute phone calls. We put in the time to build relationships and educate our clients. We know this is a scary process for most people. Every client who has walked through our door has never been in a lawsuit before. We want to make sure you are comfortable and educated on what is going on with your case. We provide you with the right information to make educated decisions about your case. It takes time to build strong relationships, and we are happy to put in the time for you.
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