New York City Employment Law Blog

This week, New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman stepped down after an expose in the New Yorker detailed allegations by four women that he subjected them to physical violence during romantic relationships or encounters. The news came as a shock to many because Schneiderman had developed a reputation as a champion of women's issues.

Schneiderman denies the allegations, but he resigned in acknowledgement that they would prevent him from effectively leading his office at what he calls a critical time. His office had been pressing to change state law to allow prosecution of Trump administration personnel if they are pardoned by the president. That effort now faces an uncertain future.

Employers have long conducted background checks on job applicants, and for good reason. Depending on the position, previous actions by an employee may reflect badly on the company if they come to light. Some jobs require a background check on all potential employees.

While employers have an incentive to conduct background checks, they can also be unfair to employees. This is particularly true when a background check generates a false positive or the company fails to conduct them in accordance with state and federal regulations.

Contrary to popular belief, seizing houses and cars and freezing bank accounts are not the only ways to enforce a judgment.

There are other creative avenues to pursue against a debtor who may or may not have liquid funds to satisfy a judgement, including issuing a subpoena with restraining notice to the debtor's bank and seizing the contents of his or her safe deposit box.

According to the Pew Research Center, an average woman working in the United States makes about 82 cents for every dollar a male peer makes for doing the same work. Some of that pay gap can be explained by differences in choice of occupation, educational attainment, or work experience, but the majority of the gap is likely the result of gender discrimination.

One of the problems that women face in attaining more equitable pay is that any pay disparity in earlier jobs can continue to depress their wages over a lifetime. This is because many, if not most, employers base new hires' pay in part on their salary history. If a woman receives lower pay in an earlier job -- whether due to bias or not -- that lower pay can be reflected in a lower salary at every subsequent job. An early salary disparity between men and women could thus lead to an enormous pay gap over the course of a career.