What Types Of Discrimination In Employment Against Executives And Professionals Are Prohibited In New York?

In New York State, executives and professionals are considered employees. As a result, in New York, executives and professionals are protected by the same anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation statutes that protect other employees.

In New York State, employers with four or more employees may not bar or discharge from employment or refuse to hire or employ a person, or discriminate against an individual in compensation or in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of the person’s age, race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, military status, sex, disability, predisposing genetic characteristics, marital status, or status as a victim of domestic violence.

Effective February 8, 2020, employers in New York State with one to three employees, too, will be prohibited from engaging in the above-mentioned types of discrimination in employment.

In New York City, a broader group of characteristics are protected than in the remainder of New York State. In New York City, employers with four or more workers (whether employees or independent contractors) may not bar or discharge from employment or refuse to hire or employ a person, or discriminate against an individual in compensation or in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of the person’s actual or perceived age, race, creed, color, national origin, gender, disability, marital status, domestic partnership status, caregiver status, sexual and reproductive health decisions, sexual orientation, alienage or citizenship status, domestic violence victim status, sex offenses victim status, or stalking victim status.

Further, in New York City, employers with four or more workers may not base an employment decision with regard to hiring, compensation, or the terms and conditions of employment on an applicant’s unemployment without a substantially job-related reason for doing so.

So, too, businesses in New York City with four or more workers may not request or use consumer credit history for employment purposes, or otherwise discriminate against an applicant or employee with regard to hiring, compensation, or the terms, conditions or privileges of employment based on the applicant’s or employee’s consumer credit history.

It is unlawful for an employer or a supervisor to discharge or to retaliate or discriminate in any other manner against an executive, a professional, or any other employee in New York State who takes the following actions:

• opposes any unlawful discriminatory practice;
• files a discrimination or harassment complaint;
• testifies or assists in any proceeding for discrimination or harassment;
• threatens to file a charge or a formal complaint alleging discrimination or harassment; or
• complains to his employer or to a State agency that the employer failed to pay, to the employee, wages that the employee earned or, in the alternative, that the employee, reasonably and in good faith, believed he earned.

In New York City, an employer, a supervisor, or a co-worker may not retaliate or discriminate against an employee who:

• opposes any unlawful discriminatory practice;
• files a discrimination or harassment complaint;
• testifies or assists in any proceeding for discrimination or harassment;
• assists the New York City Commission on Human Rights (“the City Commission on Human Rights”) or the New York City Corporation Counsel’s office in an investigation of discrimination or harassment; or
• provides information to the City Commission on Human Rights pursuant to the terms of an agreement resolving a discrimination or harassment complaint.

If you are an executive or a professional in the New York City metro area and you believe you have been wrongfully terminated, call New York City Wrongful Termination Attorney David S. Rich at (347) 941-0760 today.

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