Workplace Rights Violated?
We Fight for Workers.

How long you have, by claim

Each employment law runs on its own clock, and some of them run out quickly. The deadline also depends on where you file, and in New York a complaint to the State Division of Human Rights generally takes the same claim out of court: Executive Law § 297(9) gives a court action "unless such person had filed a complaint hereunder."

Where Long Island employment cases are heard

Offered a severance agreement? Read this before you sign

A severance agreement almost always includes a release of your claims against the employer. If you are 40 or older, federal law sets minimum terms for releasing an age claim, and under 29 U.S.C. § 626(f)(1) a waiver "may not be considered knowing and voluntary unless at a minimum" the agreement meets them:

• You are "advised in writing to consult with an attorney prior to executing the agreement."
• You get "at least 21 days" to consider it, or "at least 45 days" when the offer is part of a program for a group of employees, such as a layoff after a merger.
• You have "at least 7 days following the execution" of the agreement to revoke it.
• In a group program, the employer gives you in writing the "job titles and ages of all individuals eligible or selected for the program, and the ages of all individuals in the same job classification or organizational unit who are not eligible or selected."

That list of titles and ages is where an age pattern shows up: who in the same job title was kept, who was let go, and how old each group was. Bring the agreement and the list to the consultation before the consideration period ends.

Being harassed at work: report it, but State law does not make the report a condition

Document each incident with the date, what was said or done, and who saw it, and use the employer's complaint procedure. If you did not complain internally, the State Human Rights Law does not let that decide the case: under Executive Law § 296(1)(h), "The fact that such individual did not make a complaint about the harassment to such employer" "shall not be determinative of whether such employer" "shall be liable."