Understanding Workplace Harassment Laws

It is illegal to discriminate against or harass employees based on age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, or disability status. A number of federal laws protect you from job discrimination or workplace harassment in New York City, including:

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Known more commonly as simply “Title VII,” this law prohibits intentional NYC workplace harassment or discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, or sex. It addition, Title VII also outlaws any behaviors that result in the effect of discrimination, even when the discrimination may be unintentional.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967

The ADEA outlaws New York office harassment or discrimination due to age against employees aged 40 and older. It prohibits age specifications in job opening advertisements or job descriptions (except when a specific age is required to properly fulfill the job, such as an acting job to play the role of a teenager), exclusion from apprenticeship or training programs due to age, and denial of benefits to older employees.

Americans with Disabilities Act

New York City job harassment and discrimination is prohibited based on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. Under the ADA, employers must accommodate an individual’s known physical or mental disabilities where reasonable. It should be noted, however, that the disabled individual in question must be considered qualified for the job at hand in order to be protected by the ADA.

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The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

This act outlaws NYC work harassment or discrimination of a U.S. citizen or other individual legally working in the United States based on national origin. It applies to all employers with three or more employees.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963

The EPA bars employers from discriminating against its employees due to gender by providing unequal pay for positions at the same level. In other words, employers are required to offer the same wage to employees in equal or identical positions regardless of gender. Differences in pay may only exist if they are due to level of seniority or merit.

Executive Order 11246

The New York City workplace harassment and discrimination regulations in Executive Order 11246 largely echo those in Title VII.  However, this order requires that employers take affirmative action to create a workforce that contains women and minorities in a proportion that mirrors the population at large.

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Have you suffered workplace harassment in New York?

If you feel as though you have been the victim of New York City job harassment or discrimination, the attorneys at The Derek T. Smith Law Group, P.C. can help. NYC harassment at work is a federal offense, and should not be taken lightly. Contact us today for more information.