Gender Discrimination is illegal in the state of New York. While most people think of firing without cause as the most common kind of gender discrimination, there are many other, more subtle kinds of workplace gender discrimination occurring.
Discrimination is Illegal
New York’s “Human Rights Law” makes it illegal for employers to offer unequal pay, disparate treatment or impact, sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination, failure to hire, wrongful denial of promotions, and wrongful termination based on a person’s gender alone. Any employer with four or more employees must obey the Human Rights Law and cannot treat females in the workplace differently simply because they are women. As a protected class, women may file lawsuits against an employer for any type gender discrimination.
Can Start During an Interview
One of the ways gender discrimination enters the workplace comes as early as an interview. While it is not illegal for an interviewer to ask an applicant if she is a mom or plans to have kids, it can be a subtle sign that an employer doesn’t wish to hire a female who may have to juggle work and home issues.
Similarly, some employers discriminate against pregnant women by treating them less favorably than employees who are not pregnant. Even though most pregnancy policies fall under the umbrella of “disability,” pregnancy discrimination is considered a kind of sex discrimination. In fact, a gender discrimination suit may be filed even if a promotion was given to another female who was not pregnant, even though both are women in the same protected class.
Denial of promotions to women, whether based on pregnancy or not, are illegal and are considered as gender discrimination. You must be able to prove that “but for” the fact you are a woman, you would have gotten a promotion that was given instead to a male coworker.
Other Types of Gender Discrimination
Two of the lesser-known gender discrimination types that are protected by law are the disparate treatment and disparate impact cases. Disparate impact refers to policies put in place by an employer that work against women. In most cases, these policies would include requirements about height and weight that would rule out the majority of women who could, in fact, perform the role required. Disparate treatment is a little more subjective, therefore more difficult to prove. That means that an employer treated you differently in the workplace because you are a female. Both are protected under the Human Rights Law of NY.
No matter what form it takes, Gender Discrimination is illegal.
Contact Us
You have one year to file a claim against your employer after the act of discrimination takes place. Having the right legal team on your side can mean the difference between keeping or moving up in a good job and losing one. The NY Discrimination Attorneys at Castronovo & McKinney, LLC have been named Super Lawyers and can help you build your gender discrimination case.