Federal and state laws protect employees from discrimination and prohibit employers from making employment decisions based on factors such as race, gender, religion, national origin, disability, and age. These laws also protect employees against retaliation. In other words, employers are prohibited from subjecting employees to negative employment decisions, such as…
Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits workplace discrimination. Title VII, however, prohibits only the types of discrimination identified in the statute, including race discrimination, sex discrimination, religious discrimination, and national origin discrimination. For nearly two decades, the prevailing view from the country’s federal courts, including New York’s…
Most employees in the United States are considered to be at-will employees. At-will employment status means that an employee can be terminated at any time, for any or no reason, as long as the reason is not discriminatory. It also allows employers the freedom to decide the terms of employment…
“Knowledgeable,” “experienced,” an attorney who represented his client “zealously”; these are just some of the comments from United States Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman in describing the “caliber” of Long Island employment lawyer Matthew Weinick’s work at a recent settlement conference held before the judge. On January 30, 2018, Judge Pitman…
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against employees based on, among other reasons, the employee’s race, religion, national origin, and sex. Title VII also protects employees from retaliation by their employer for reporting or opposing the employer’s discriminatory actions. Before bringing an employment…
As Long Island employment lawyers, we keep up to speed with developments in employment law. Equally important though, is staying updated with questions of procedure. On January 22, 2018, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision relating to the statue of limitations for state law claims which are initially…
With many states declaring flu epidemics and with the spread of other communicable diseases, many employers, particularly in the health care industry, are requiring employees to receive vaccinations. Employees rightfully have concerns about being forced to receive a vaccination and so a common question is whether employers can force employees…
Long Island is prone to Nor’Easters and other significant snow and weather events. A popular question is whether employers must pay their employees when the business closes due to snow or other inclement weather. Today’s Long Island employment law blog discusses pay issues related to weather emergencies. Pay Laws in…
In employment law, discrimination and unpaid wage and overtime cases are sometimes brought as class actions. Class actions allow one or more employees to represent a larger group of employees who have been harmed in a similar way as the “class representatives.” By bringing a case as a class action,…
Employers often wonder whether they have to pay their interns. This is a question courts have also grappled with over the past few years. Today’s Long Island employment law blog explores the question of whether interns are employees, requiring that employers pay them at least minimum wage. Employees Must be…