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Tag Archives: harassment

Seven Things LGBTQ Workers Need To Know About Protecting Title VII Rights

 

On June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Bostock v. Clayton County, GA that Title VII protects LGBTQ employees from workplace discrimination.  Even in the midst of the pandemic shutdown and the murder of George Floyd, workers and workers’ rights activists took to the (virtual) streets in celebration. Social media was covered in rainbow flags and memes involving unicorns and RBG.  Bostock was a desperately-needed ray of sunshine that week.

 

It still is.

 

If you’re feeling like the magic is gone, it may be because Title VII rights are tough to assert—for workers in any protected class.  Here are some lessons from the trenches:

 

  1. Get a lawyer. A workers’ rights attorney can advise whether there’s something legally wrong in the workplace, what options you have for combatting it, and how much it will cost to combat.  While it’s possible you have the case of the century, more often an attorney is going to be helping you decide when to fight, when to walk away, and when to run… (cue Kenny Rogers…)

 

  1. Document like mad. Is your employer needlessly complicating a name change process?  Do your coworkers constantly misgender and dead-name?  Is health insurance paying for cancer-related mastectomies but not those for TGNC patients?  Are you being asked non-job related health questions?  Is someone obsessed with which bathroom you use?  Specific, real-time documentation is your talisman.  Write down dates, times, locations, witnesses, what happened, what was said, and the effect the incident had on you (e.g., high blood pressure, PTSD, shaky hands all afternoon, felt humiliated, etc.)  The more exactly you can remember the wording of any comments, the better.  Send this information to yourself on your personal email account (NOT your work account, please).  Your attorney will be grateful for this real-time documentation.

 

  1. Use the complaint process – with caution. This is where the advice of an attorney is indispensable.  Making an internal complaint is sometimes like painting a target on your own back.  But if you’re already wearing a target, making a complaint puts the employer on notice that it may be looking at some pretty gritty legal liability.  For some employers, that fear will spur them to make some positive changes.

 

  1. Use the complaint process – with precision. Get an attorney to review your complaint. (Don’t rely on a verbal complaint.  Just don’t.)  The words “My boss is acting inappropriately” do not have the same effect as “On September 1, 2020 at 11:45 am, Henry Frick followed me to the restroom and asked whether I was leaving the seat up or not. Joe Hill and Hattie Canty witnessed this incident. I felt sick to my stomach the rest of the afternoon. I consider this to be gender-based harassment.”  The words you use will have an enormous effect on the strength of your legal position.

 

  1. Don’t let other employees turn you into “Queer Google.” You are there to do a job.  Your coworkers’ non-work related curiosity, even if it is well-intentioned, will interfere with your productivity and get you into trouble.  It is not your job to educate your cis colleagues.  If they are asking invasive or impertinent questions, it’s worth a conversation with your attorney to decide how to handle it in a way that ensures your Title VII rights are protected.

 

  1. Don’t quit – unless your attorney, doctor, spouse, or career coach says to. If you quit, you may cut off your ability to recover monetary losses. Courts don’t like speculative damages in the first place, and it’s hard to argue you had any expectation of continued earnings if you were the one who cut off your own earnings by quitting. But if the job is affecting your health, relationships, or career – or if your attorney says you can’t fix the problem—you may need to consider your big picture priorities.

 

  1. Don’t rely on lists you read on the internet. Speak with an attorney.  You deserve the peace of mind that comes with understanding your new legal rights at work.

 

 

Ask A Worker’s Rights Attorney!

Law Books

The Satter Ruhlen Law Firm presents:

 

Ask A Worker’s Rights Attorney!

A webinar for workers.

Thursday, March 11, 2021 at 6:00 pm

 

Do you work in New York?  Do you have a question about your workplace rights?  This is your chance to ask an attorney about it.  One lawyer, six participants, eight minutes per participant (we’ll have a timer!)  Quick answers to your questions about wage and hour violations, discrimination, harassment, whistleblowing, unionizing, non-compete clauses, and other questions like “can they really do that to me?”

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Space is limited, so sign up soon!*

Participants will receive a 10% discount on a one-hour consultation with the Satter Ruhlen Law Firm.

Please note that this webinar is for informational purposes and is not to be considered legal advice. Participation in the webinar does not create or imply an attorney-client relationship. If you would like a dedicated one-hour consultation with us, please contact the Satter Ruhlen Law Firm at 315-471-0405 or through our website (https://www.satterlaw.com/contact-us/). We look forward to walking you through your workplace rights.

*Registrations will be screened for employees’ protection.

 

Workplace Bullying—Is it illegal?

By Diane Williamson
Please note that the information contained in this post is for informational purposes and is not to be considered legal advice. This blog post does not create or imply an attorney-client relationship. If you would like to discuss your particular circumstances with us, please set up a consultation by contacting the Satter Ruhlen Law Firm at 315-471-0405 or through our website (https://www.satterlaw.com/contact-us/). We look forward to walking you through your workplace rights.

Are you being bullied at work?


Unfortunately, more often than not, the law will not offer protection or remedy if you find yourself in a toxic work environment resulting from bullying by your co-workers or managers. Indeed, there is no law against workplace bullying in New York, and, as court decisions indicate, the law does not create “a general civility code” for the workplace.


Nevertheless, there are some instances when workplace bullying may be illegal. The law may protect you if the bullying is targeted at you for a specific reason such as your race, gender, or other classification that is protected by the law. Under New York anti-discrimination law bullying is illegal if it is based on race, color, national origin, ethnicity, religion, veteran status, genetic makeup, disability, age, or sex, gender, sexual identity, familial status, marital status, and domestic violence victim status.


So, what might actionable bullying look like? Imagine an employee who is targeted because of her age or because she asked for a reasonable accommodation for a disability. Not all of the harassing behaviors need to make explicit reference to the protected characteristic in order for the bullying to count as discrimination. Also, a combination of bullying based on more than one of the protected categories counts as harassment. And the employee who complains about harassment need not be the intended recipient of the abusive communications—if the harassers are speaking derogatorily about someone else, those comments may still contribute to the hostility of the work environment. While the plaintiff must demonstrate that the harassment altered the terms and conditions of employment, the harassing behaviors might also take place outside of work—on social media, for example.


In 2019 New York updated its law that prohibits harassment to better prevent against all forms of discrimination at the workplace. Now New York law instructs courts to use a stricter standard. While courts should not consider “petty slights and offences” to be harassment, bullying that targets someone because of protected characteristics should be considered discrimination if it changes the terms and conditions of employment for the victim.


In addition to New York’s anti-discrimination laws, there are other laws that hypothetically could offer some relief for bullied employees. For example, bullying might be illegal if it is in retaliation for making a discrimination complaint, complaining about unsafe or illegal activity, making a wage and hour complaint, or because of lawful recreational or political activities conducted outside of work. Nevertheless, the law may be less likely to punish bullying for some these reasons.


If the bully’s behavior rises to the level of being “outrageous” and “intolerable in a civilized society,” you may have a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress against the bully, or if you have been the victim of offensive touching or threatened touching, you may have a claim for civil battery or assault. If the workplace bullying causes stress that exceeds normal work stress and it causes you to be unable to work, you may also have a Workers’ Compensation claim. Of course, the only way to truly gauge whether your claim is likely to be successful is to speak with a lawyer.


If you are faced with regular bullying at work, it is a good idea to keep a record of your experiences. You will most likely forget the little details of the day-to-day harassment unless you write them down. If you send an email to yourself that recounts the events of the day (not on your work email), the record will also be time-stamped. It might be the case that you only come to realize later that the bullying is related to a protected characteristic. To be on the safe side, start documenting the bullying as soon as it starts on the chance that you may later realize that it is illegal. Plus, writing down the harassing behavior may help to delay your response and defuse a potentially volatile situation. Overall, take care of yourself and start applying for new jobs. Hopefully, a better situation is right around the corner.

COVID-19 In The New York Workplace – Part VII: Discrimination and Harassment

Please note that the information contained in this post is for informational purposes and is not to be considered legal advice. This blog post does not create or imply an attorney-client relationship.  If you would like to discuss your particular circumstances with us, please set up a consultation by contacting the Satter Ruhlen Law Firm at 315-471-0405 or through our website (https://www.satterlaw.com/contact-us/).  We look forward to walking you through your workplace rights.

Workplace discrimination and harassment against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders is being fueled by xenophobic rhetoric about the COVID-19 virus.  Workers in these protected classes are facing everything from coworkers’ racist “jokes” to physical violence. 

No worker should be subjected to workplace discrimination or harassment on the basis of national origin or race at any time, and workplace hostility makes a coronavirus-affected workplace even more dangerous.  Fortunately, there are some steps that New York workers can take when faced with discrimination and harassment.

In the State of New York, the Division of Human Rights [“SDHR”] recently released a useful handout on COVID-19 related workplace discrimination. [1]  The handout describes a variety of examples of pandemic-related discrimination workers might face, including being sent home based on a perception that they are more susceptible to coronavirus because of their race, being discriminated against for wearing a face mask, and threats and harassment.  (Violence and threats of violence may be considered hate crimes, and it is appropriate to call 911 to address violence or threats.  It is also a good idea to call the New York State Hate Crimes Task Force at 1-888-392-3644.)

What can a worker do when faced with what appears to be race-based or national origin-based discrimination?  While there is no substitute for speaking with an attorney qualified to practice employment law in your jurisdiction, these are some pointers that can help you when you get to that conversation. 

  • Document the incident meticulously.  Write down what happened, who saw it happen, when it happened (date and time), who was hostile or discriminatory, who was the victim, where it happened, and the order in which things happened.  Note:  Discrimination/harassment that is not connected to your protected class is not illegal.  Don’t clutter up your documentation with incidents involving “equal opportunity” nastiness that you can’t show is connected to your protected class – it’s not fair, but it won’t get you anywhere.  This update from the SDHR includes a list of classes that are protected in the State of New York.
  • Think about the effect of the incident.  Has your safety been compromised?  Has the incident made it impossible for you to do your job (for instance, has your equipment been damaged or have you been denied access to key resources?) Do you need to see a mental health provider to deal with the emotional effects of the incident?  Has the incident affected your finances? Do you have a certificate or license that could be affected?
  • If the incident is one of a series of nasty events, document who, what, where, when, and how each incident occurred. 
  • Once you have written down all the information, send it in an email to yourself using your PERSONAL EMAIL ACCOUNT.  Email is a great tool for combating workplace discrimination, because an email message is automatically date-stamped and time-stamped.  However, IT’S ALMOST NEVER A GOOD IDEA SEND AN EMAIL FROM YOUR WORK ADDRESS TO YOUR PERSONAL EMAIL.  The employer can track that, and will use it against you.
  • If the incident physically prevents you from being able to do your job, has caused you to seek mental health treatment, has affected your finances, or is one of a series of ongoing events, have a look at your employer’s discrimination and harassment policy.  Figure out how and to whom to report the incident(s). 
  • Write a complete, succinct timeline of the discrimination and harassment.  Start with the oldest incident.  For each incident, include:
    • Date
    • Time
    • Place
    • Harasser Name
    • Harassee Name
    • Names of any witnesses
    • Photos, memos, videos, recordings
    • What happened, in chronological order
    • Its effect on you
  • Make a complaint pursuant to the employer’s discrimination and harassment policies.  Include your timeline in the complaint.  If the employer uses a complaint form, attach the timeline to the form. Send the complaint in a way that you can easily track. Don’t assume that a hand-delivered document or something sent via inter-office mail is going to be acknowledged or followed up on. Here are some trackable ways to send a complaint:
    • Send an email and request a “read” receipt
    • Send a fax and get a fax confirmation receipt
    • Send it via certified mail and track it through the post office
  • Carefully document everything that happens after you make your complaint, in the same manner you used to document the original incident(s). 
  • Once you’ve made a complaint, buckle your seatbelt.  The workplace is about to get very complicated for you.  People may stop talking to you – they’ve been ordered to do so, because now you are considered a litigation risk.  You may be put on paid leave pending the employer’s investigation, or you may be temporarily moved to a new assignment.  The ostensible reason for the change is to protect you from the harasser.  The real reason is because the employer is afraid someone will do something to you that will give you additional grounds for a lawsuit.  If the change affects your pay, call an attorney.
  • The employer will probably perform some kind of investigation.  You probably won’t get a copy of the report.  You may not even be informed of the results of the investigation.  
  • Once the employer’s investigation is complete, one of three things will likely happen:  a) the harasser will be removed, either losing his job or put in a place where he doesn’t have contact with you; b) nothing will change, except that now your coworkers might be afraid to talk to you; or c) you’ll experience workplace retaliation (i.e., even more nasty conduct with you as the target.)  Depending on how sophisticated the employer is, the retaliation may or may not be actionable.  Just continue to document everything that happens to you.
  • If you’ve hit a wall with the employer’s investigation and option (b) or (c) has occurred, that’s a good time to speak with an attorney and determine whether it makes sense to pursue the claim with the SDHR, the federal EEOC, or in another forum. 
  • CALL AN ATTORNEY.  It doesn’t matter if you call Satter Ruhlen Law Firm or another firm.  Just get in touch with someone with expertise in your jurisdiction who can tell you if any or all of the above pointers are a good idea.  It is well worth the consultation fee to determine what your rights might be in the workplace.

Workplace discrimination and harassment is intolerable under any circumstance.  In a workplace affected by coronavirus, it is extremely dangerous.  Ultimately you have to decide whether and how to fight it, but know that it is illegal and are laws to protect you. 


[1] This blog posts focuses on New York State Human Rights Law, but the EEOC has also issued a statement with links to its guidance on national origin and race discrimination. 

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