New York Equal Pay Lawyer

If you discover you’re being paid less than a coworker who performs substantially similar work, Allred, Maroko & Goldberg can help. Pay disparities are often hidden behind vague compensation policies, and many employees only learn about them by accident, through a posted salary range, or a candid conversation with a colleague. We represent workers across New York City and throughout the state who are being paid less than colleagues doing the same job, and we can tell you whether the gap you found is one the law recognises.

What Is an Equal Pay Claim Under New York State Law?

An equal pay claim arises when an employer pays an employee less than a coworker of a different sex, race, or other protected characteristic for substantially similar work, requiring equal skill, effort, and responsibility performed under similar working conditions. To establish a claim, you generally must show that a comparator doing substantially similar work was paid more, and that the difference traces to a protected characteristic rather than a legitimate factor.

Unlike many discrimination claims, equal pay claims often do not require proof that the employer intended to discriminate. Once you show a pay disparity for substantially similar work, the burden typically shifts to your employer to justify it on a legitimate, nondiscriminatory factor such as seniority, merit, or a bona fide production-based system. Call Allred, Maroko & Goldberg today to speak with an experienced legal advocate.

If you’re unsure whether your rights were violated, we’re here to help.

Laws That Protect New York Employees From Unequal Pay

Several overlapping laws protect New York employees from pay discrimination, and more than one may apply to the same circumstances.

The New York Labor Law prohibits pay disparities based on sex, and additional amendments have broadened protection to cover pay differences based on other protected class characteristics for substantially similar work, using a standard often more favorable to employees than federal law.

The federal Equal Pay Act requires equal pay for substantially similar work performed by employees of different sexes within the same establishment, regardless of job title, and allows employees to file directly in court without first going through an agency.

The New York City Human Rights Law and New York State Human Rights Law separately prohibit pay discrimination connected to sex, race, age, disability, and other protected categories, offering broader coverage than the federal Equal Pay Act’s focus on sex-based disparities.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act also prohibits pay discrimination connected to race, sex, religion, and national origin, and can apply alongside Equal Pay Act claims arising from the same pay disparity.

Because these laws overlap, employees may be able to pursue claims under multiple statutes simultaneously.

Employers Covered by Each Law

Coverage is one of the first things we check, because it decides which law gives you the strongest claim. The three statutes reach different employers, and the differences are wide.

The New York City Human Rights Law applies to employers with four or more employees, and independent contractors count toward that number in many circumstances. The New York State Human Rights Law was amended to reach every employer in the state regardless of headcount, so even a workplace with two or three staff is covered. Title VII only reaches employers with 15 or more employees.

That gap matters. If you work for a small business in Brooklyn, federal law may give you nothing while city and state law give you a full claim. We work out which doors are open before deciding where to file.

What Are the Warning Signs of Unequal Pay in New York?

Pay disparities are not always obvious. You may have a claim if you learned a coworker in a similar or identical role earns more, if you were denied a raise or bonus that went to colleagues at your level, or if a posted salary range for a comparable position sits above what you are paid.

Other patterns include being hired at a lower starting salary than colleagues with similar experience, and pay gaps that persist or widen over time despite comparable performance evaluations.

Evidence That Supports an Equal Pay Claim

An equal pay claim is built on comparison, so the evidence that matters most is whatever lets us line your role up against the person being paid more. Some of it you already have. Some of it we obtain through the discovery process once a claim is filed.

Start with what is in your own possession:

• Pay stubs, offer letters, and any written record of how your salary was set
• Bonus and commission statements, since disparities often hide in variable pay
• Job descriptions for your role and for the comparator’s role
• Performance reviews showing your work matched or exceeded theirs
• Internal salary bands, job postings, or pay ranges for comparable positions

You do not need to prove the whole picture before speaking with a lawyer. Employers hold most of the compensation data, and once a claim is underway we can compel production of payroll records, pay-setting criteria, and the compensation history of the people you are being compared against.

What you can do now is preserve what passes through your hands. Pay records you never printed are far harder to obtain after you leave.

How Employers Defend These Claims

Employers frequently argue that a pay difference reflects a legitimate factor other than a protected characteristic, such as seniority, education, prior experience, or a documented merit-based system. They may also point to differences in job duties or responsibilities that make roles less comparable than they initially appear.

In some cases, employers argue that pay was set through a bona fide production or quality-based system applied consistently across the workforce.

Who Can Be Held Personally Liable for Unequal Pay in New York?

Under the New York City Human Rights Law, individual supervisors and managers involved in setting discriminatory pay can be held personally liable, in addition to the employer itself, broadening potential accountability.

Call Allred, Maroko & Goldberg today to speak with an experienced legal advocate.

What to Do If You Suspect a Pay Gap in New York

The steps you take now shape what we can prove later. If you are still employed, these matter most:

• Write down how you learned about the disparity, including dates and who told you.
• Save offer letters, pay stubs, bonus statements, and any written explanation of how your pay was set.
• Note the colleagues doing substantially similar work and what you know about their pay.
• Keep job postings or salary ranges for comparable roles at your employer.
• Save performance reviews showing your work matched or exceeded the comparators’.
• Ask for your personnel file in writing, since New York employers often keep pay decisions there.
• Do not accept a retroactive raise framed as a settlement without having the terms reviewed.

None of this requires you to have made a decision about filing. Preserving records keeps your options open, and it costs nothing to do while you work out whether you want to act on them.

If the disparity has already been raised internally and nothing changed, that is usually the point at which an outside review becomes worthwhile. Call Allred, Maroko & Goldberg today to speak with an experienced legal advocate.

How Long Do You Have to File an Equal Pay Claim in New York?

Equal pay claims are subject to different deadlines depending on the law and forum involved, and a single pay disparity may create more than one claim.

A claim under the federal Equal Pay Act generally must be filed within 2 years of the violation, or 3 years if the violation was willful, and each unequal paycheck can restart this period. A wage-based claim under the New York Labor Law generally must be filed within 6 years. A complaint filed with the New York State Division of Human Rights (NYSDHR) or NYC Commission on Human Rights (NYCCHR) for pay discrimination connected to a protected characteristic generally must be filed within 3 years, while an EEOC charge under Title VII generally must be filed within 300 days.

Because the NYC Commission no longer automatically cross-files complaints with the EEOC, employees may need to file separately with each agency to preserve every available claim.

Lenzi v. Systemax and What It Means for Your Claim

In Lenzi v. Systemax, Inc., the Second Circuit clarified how equal pay claims are evaluated under both the federal Equal Pay Act and New York law, addressing how employers must prove that a pay difference was based on a legitimate factor other than sex once an employee shows a pay disparity for similar work. The decision remains an important reference point for how New York courts and federal courts within the state analyze equal pay claims.

Remedies in equal pay cases can include back pay, liquidated damages, and, in claims brought under discrimination statutes, compensatory and punitive damages.

Compensation Available in an Equal Pay Case

Equal pay claims carry remedies that discrimination claims alone do not, which is why we often bring both.

Back pay covers the difference between what you were paid and what the comparator earned. Under the federal Equal Pay Act, liquidated damages can double that figure where the employer cannot show it acted in good faith. New York Labor Law allows liquidated damages of up to three hundred percent for a wilful violation, a materially larger exposure than federal law creates.

Where the same facts also support a claim under the city or state human rights law, you may recover emotional distress damages and, in the right case, punitive damages. Attorney’s fees and costs are recoverable, so pursuing a claim need not depend on what you can afford to spend.

No lawyer can guarantee a particular result. The value of a case requires an individualized analysis and depends on the evidence, the severity of the conduct, the impact on you, and the defenses your employer raises.

Why Choose Allred, Maroko & Goldberg?

We were founded five decades ago by Gloria Allred, Michael Maroko, and Nathan Goldberg. Our attorneys have spent their careers representing employees and civil rights plaintiffs against employers with far greater resources than the people bringing the claim.

We have recovered more than $1 billion for clients across our practice areas, and we are recognized nationally for our advocacy on behalf of employees and victims. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Gloria Allred is admitted to practice in New York and is among the most widely recognised civil rights attorneys in the country. Our New York office is at 111 Broadway in Lower Manhattan, within reach of the state and federal courts where these cases are heard.

Pay cases are won on comparison, and comparison takes work: identifying the right comparators, obtaining the payroll data an employer would rather not produce, and showing that the explanation offered does not survive contact with the record. That is the part we handle, and it is the part that decides whether a pay gap becomes a claim.

Allred, Maroko & Goldberg Is Ready to Help, Talk to Us

We help New York City employees and workers statewide evaluate potential equal pay claims, identify comparators, and determine which laws and deadlines apply. We handle filings with the NYSDHR, NYCCHR, and EEOC, negotiate with employers, and pursue litigation when a fair resolution cannot be reached. Pay disparities rarely appear on their own, which is why our New York employment lawyers also handle the discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination claims that often surface alongside a pay gap.

If you discovered a pay disparity at work, don’t wait to protect your rights. Call Allred, Maroko & Goldberg today to schedule a free, confidential consultation.