New York Employment Lawyer

We represent New York City employees who have experienced unlawful treatment on the job, and we act for workers throughout the five boroughs and across the state, including Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. We handle claims involving discrimination, sexual and workplace harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, unpaid wages, and whistleblower complaints. If you believe your employer violated your rights, we can help you understand your options and pursue the justice you deserve.

What We Help New York Employees With

Employment law governs conduct throughout the entire employment relationship, not just termination. We can help when problems arise during hiring, compensation decisions, promotions, day-to-day treatment, requests for leave, disability or pregnancy accommodations, discipline, or termination.

Many employees do not realize that unfair treatment early in the employment relationship, such as biased hiring practices or unequal pay, may be just as legally significant as a wrongful firing. We look at the full arc of your time with the employer to find every potential violation, not just the one that brought you here. Call Allred, Maroko & Goldberg at 646-992-2184 to speak with an experienced legal advocate.

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

Employment Cases We Handle in New York

We represent New York City employees and workers throughout the state, across a broad range of workplace disputes, including:

• Employment discrimination based on race, sex, age, religion, national origin, or disability
• Sexual harassment, including hostile work environment and quid pro quo claims
• Workplace harassment based on any protected characteristic
• Workplace retaliation for reporting misconduct or exercising legal rights
• Wrongful termination in violation of state or federal law
• Whistleblower claims involving reports of illegal activity
• Disability and pregnancy accommodations that employers unlawfully denied
• Wage and hour violations, including unpaid overtime and minimum wage claims
• Equal pay claims for unjustified pay disparities
• Workplace civil-rights claims involving broader violations of employee protections

Call Allred, Maroko & Goldberg on 646-992-2184 today to schedule a free, confidential consultation and discuss which of these issues may apply to your situation.

Laws That Protect New York Employees

Several overlapping laws protect New York workers, and more than one may apply to the same situation.

The New York State Human Rights Law prohibits discrimination and harassment for most employers statewide, while the New York City Human Rights Law offers broader protections within the five boroughs, often interpreted more favorably to employees than federal law.

Title VII protects employees nationwide from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires reasonable accommodations for qualified employees with disabilities, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act protects workers age 40 and older.

The Family and Medical Leave Act guarantees eligible employees unpaid, job-protected leave for qualifying medical and family reasons. The New York Labor Law governs wage payment, overtime, and related workplace standards specific to New York employees.

What Are the Signs That Your Employer Broke the Law in New York?

Workplace violations are not always obvious. Common warning signs include:

• Termination shortly after making a complaint about harassment or discrimination
• Repeated harassment that continues after being reported to management
• Being paid less than coworkers who perform substantially similar work
• An employer refusing to even consider a reasonable accommodation request
• Regularly working overtime hours without proper compensation
• Negative performance reviews, discipline, or demotion after reporting unlawful conduct

If any of these situations sound familiar, call Allred, Maroko & Goldberg today to speak with an experienced legal advocate about your rights.

How Long Do You Have to File a New York Employment Claim?

Employment law deadlines vary significantly depending on which agency or court has jurisdiction over your claim. A single workplace event can create several separate claims, each governed by a different deadline.

Claim Type	Typical Filing Deadline
New York State Division of Human Rights (NYSDHR)	3 years from the discriminatory act
NYC Commission on Human Rights (NYCCHR)	3 years from the discriminatory act
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)	300 days from the discriminatory act
Unpaid wage claims (NY Labor Law)	6 years from the violation
Whistleblower retaliation claims	Varies by statute
FMLA claims	2 years (3 years for willful violations)

Filing a complaint internally with human resources does not pause or extend these external deadlines. The NYC Commission on Human Rights also no longer automatically cross-files complaints with the EEOC, so employees may need to file separately with each agency to preserve their rights.

What Evidence Should You Preserve For Your Employment Lawsuit?

Documentation decides close cases. Preserve emails and text messages about the problem, your pay records and schedules, performance reviews, and any written complaint you sent to management or HR. Medical documentation or accommodation requests, disciplinary notices, and termination paperwork are also important.

Saving this information as soon as possible, and before it can be lost or altered, helps protect your ability to prove your claim later.

New York Cases That Shaped Employment Law

New York courts have shaped important legal protections through landmark decisions. In Mihalik v. Credit Agricole Cheuvreux North America, the Second Circuit clarified the broader standard for hostile work environment claims under the NYC Human Rights Law. 

In Jacobsen v. New York City Health and Hospitals Corp., New York’s Court of Appeals addressed reasonable accommodation obligations. In Kwan v. Andalex Group LLC, the Second Circuit examined the evidentiary standard for proving retaliation.

These decisions shaped New York State employment law generally. 

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.

A single workplace dispute usually gives rise to several claims running on different deadlines under different statutes. We identify all of them at the outset rather than pursuing the most obvious one and discovering later that a stronger route has already closed. Gloria Allred has spent five decades advocating for victims of harassment, discrimination, and abuse in some of the country’s most high-profile cases, and that work has shaped the precedent New York employees rely on today.

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

We assess whether your treatment at work may have violated the law and identify which deadlines apply to your situation. We collect and organize supporting evidence, handle filings with agencies such as the NYSDHR, NYCCHR, and EEOC, and negotiate directly with employers on our clients’ behalf. When a fair resolution cannot be reached, we are prepared to pursue litigation to hold employers accountable.

Discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or unpaid wages: whichever brought you here, we are ready to fight for your future.

If you believe your employer violated your rights, don’t wait to protect yourself. Call Allred, Maroko & Goldberg at 646-992-2184 today to schedule a free, confidential consultation with an experienced New York employment lawyer.

Frequently Asked Questions

What types of employment cases do you handle in New York?

We handle discrimination, sexual and workplace harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, whistleblower claims, and wage and hour violations, along with accommodation denials and equal pay disputes. Most cases involve more than one of these at once, because the treatment that leads someone to complain and the response to that complaint are usually both actionable. If you are not sure which category your situation falls into, that is a question worth putting to a lawyer rather than answering yourself.

How long do I have to file an employment claim?

It depends on the claim and the forum. Complaints to the New York State Division of Human Rights or the NYC Commission on Human Rights generally carry three years, an EEOC charge under Title VII carries 300 days, and unpaid wage claims under the New York Labor Law reach back six years. A single incident can create several claims running on different clocks at the same time, so the shortest applicable deadline is the one that matters. Waiting to see whether things improve at work is the most common reason people lose a claim they would otherwise have won.

Can my employer fire me for making a workplace complaint?

No. Retaliation for reporting discrimination, harassment, or other unlawful conduct is prohibited under city, state, and federal law, and the protection applies even if your underlying complaint is never proven, provided you raised it in good faith. Retaliation is also a separate claim from whatever you complained about, which means it can succeed on its own. In practice retaliation claims are often stronger than the original complaint, because an employer’s reaction to being challenged tends to be documented and difficult to explain away afterwards.

Should I report the issue to HR before contacting a lawyer?

You are not required to. Internal complaints do not pause or extend any external filing deadline, and human resources works for your employer rather than for you. That said, a written internal complaint does establish what the company knew and when it knew it, which can matter a great deal later. The safest sequence is usually to get advice on how to frame the complaint before you submit it, so that it protects your position rather than narrowing it.

What documents should I bring to an employment-law consultation?

Bring whatever you already have: emails and messages about the problem, pay records, schedules, performance reviews, any written complaint you submitted, and any disciplinary or termination paperwork. If you have none of it, come anyway. Employers hold most of the relevant records, and much of what matters can be obtained through the legal process. What you cannot recover later is anything you deleted, so preserving first and sorting through it afterwards is the right order.

Can more than one employment law apply to my case?

Yes, and this is the norm rather than the exception. City, state, and federal statutes overlap heavily, and a single incident frequently gives rise to claims under all three. That matters because they are not equivalent: New York City law generally sets the lowest threshold for proving a claim and places no cap on emotional distress damages, while federal law imposes statutory caps and reaches only employers of a certain size. Part of what we do at the outset is work out which combination gives you the strongest position.


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Getting Justice for Victims of Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation in New York

Employees may already know they are guaranteed certain rights by federal law. However, they may not know that federal laws generally set minimum requirements regarding an employee’s rights and workplace disputes. Although state laws must abide by the requirements set by federal law, states are free to give their citizens greater protection than federal law provides. New York is no exception and takes full advantage of this opportunity.

Representing clients for over 40 years, Allred, Maroko & Goldberg is one of the most pre-eminent employment law firms in the country. Although we serve clients nationwide, we are devoted to giving you the personal attention you deserve. From our offices in New York City, our firm is well-positioned to serve clients throughout the state who have been victimized by discrimination, harassment and other civil rights violations. Our New York attorneys can be reached at 212-235-1449 or by email.

How Is Discrimination Law in New York Different?

Employees in New York state enjoy some of the most comprehensive protections against employment discrimination in the nation. Under the New York State Human Rights Law, it is illegal for employers with four or more employees to discriminate against employees or job applicants based on their:

• Gender
• Sexual orientation
• Age (assuming that the employee or applicant is 18)
• Disability
• Pregnancy
• Race
• National origin
• Creed
• Color
• Religion
• Marital status
• Status as a victim of domestic violence, stalking or sex offenses
• Genetic information
• Military status

Although some of these protections are also found in federal law, many are not. Generally, New York law offers protections to a greater number of people than federal law and the laws of most other states.

New York Anti-Retaliation Law

Like its laws against discrimination, the New York State Human Rights Law provides broad protection to employees who have been terminated or retaliated against by their employers because they reported discrimination or harassment or filed a discrimination or harassment claim. Additionally, it is illegal for New York employers to retaliate against employees for testifying or assisting in an employment discrimination or harassment legal proceeding.

Employees who complain of harassment or discrimination are protected from retaliation, even if it is later found not to be a violation of the Human Rights Law, as long as they had a good faith belief that the practices they complained of were unlawful.

Whistleblower Protection in New York

New York law also provides strong protections against retaliation for those who have witnessed and reported illegal activities in the workplace. In general, New York law forbids employers from discharging or otherwise retaliating against employees for participating in the following activities:

• Disclosing an illegal policy, practice or activity of the employer that presents a specific and substantial danger to public health or safety
• Testifying or providing information to a public body during an investigation or hearing concerning an activity, practice or policy that presents a specific and substantial danger to public health or safety
• Refusing to participate in or objecting to a policy, practice or activity that presents a specific and substantial danger to public health or safety

Under the law, employees who were wrongfully retaliated against may recover compensation for lost wages and other benefits, as well as seek reinstatement to their former positions.

Contact Us to Protect Your Rights

If you have experienced discrimination or harassment in the workplace or have been retaliated against for reporting discrimination, harassment or other illegal activities, the attorneys at Allred, Maroko & Goldberg can explain your legal rights and work to protect your employment. Contact our New York office at 212-235-1449 to take the first step toward protecting your rights.