New York City Law Blog

Shocking allegations of sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the workplace created the #MeToo movement, raising collective consciousness of this all-too-common phenomenon. Historically, many victims have been prevented from getting justice due to the widespread employer practice of forcing employees to sign employment agreements containing arbitration clauses, which require employees to arbitrate legal claims against their employers, rather than filing complaints with government agencies or courts.

As New York slowly turns the dial to open more workplaces after a prolonged stay-at-home period, employees and employers alike are understandably concerned about keeping the physical environment at work as safe and healthy as possible. Employers must comply with local, state, and federal work safety requirements. When an employee believes their employer has not done so, the employee may choose to complain to the employer or to government authorities, such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or the New York State Department of Health.

An employee who makes such a complaint is called a whistleblower and may be legally protected from retaliation for blowing the whistle on their employer. Illegal retaliation could include wrongful termination or other adverse employment actions like demotion or failure to promote, undeserved negative job performance reviews, loss of job perks, and others.

Federal laws prohibit many discriminatory practices

The federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act forbids biased treatment based on pregnancy status in businesses with more than 15 employees. This includes discrimination based on whether an employee may become pregnant in the future, harassment toward pregnant employees, or refusal to hire or promote employees because of pregnancy. Even asking about an applicant's pregnancy status in an interview could be discriminatory.

The upcoming months and year will bring changes to sick leave requirements across New York state beginning on September 30, 2020.

Starting on January 1, 2021, employers must allow eligible employees to use their earned sick time and return to their job after taking legitimate sick time. Further, employers may not retaliate against employees for exercising their rights under the paid sick leave law.