New York Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

I will assume for purposes of your question that you are a US citizen. If an LPR, the child can be added as a dependent. However, an I-130 petition filed by the US citizen for a spouse falls in the immediate relative category, which does not allow dependent children. Please note that the new child may be a US citizen if you are a US citizen who has been physically present in the US or its outlying possessions for five years prior to the child’s birth, at least two of which were after the age of 14. In such case, you would apply at the US consulate or embassy for the child’s recognition as a US citizen. If you do not meet those conditions, you would file an I-130 petition for the child. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read More

The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family Medical Leave Act are two different federal laws. Remember that state laws have protection as well but you asked about federal laws. The Family Medical Leave Act provides up to 12 weeks of UNPAID leave per year under federal law. However, there are some situations where an employee requests accommodation (remember that you must be able to do your job with or without reasonable accommodations which do not require an undue burden on your employer) which might extend that 12-week period. But there are requirements. An employer does not need to keep a job open indefinitely. It has the right to know when your doctor reasonably expects you to return to work, for example, July 5, 2024. Employees should not expect employers to guess. Neither should employees expect employers to anticipate or know what type of accommodation an employee may need. The employee usually must ask. There are some limited exceptions such as when a mental illness prevents the employee from asking and an employer reasonably knows or should know that they need to initiate the interactive process for a potential reasonable accommodation. You do not say whether you were injured on the job. If so, you need a workers compensation lawyer immediately. You also do not say whether you are the rare employee with a union contract which might give you more protection. Instead of paying private counsel to review your collective agreement you should reach out to your union since you pay union dues. Similarly if you work for the government reach out to that union. Most employees have no private contracts to enforce. If none of the above apply and you did not request accommodation your employer may have no requirement to keep your job open. Employees are injured in car accidents and sometimes have illnesses or conditions which have nothing to do with being caused by the job. In many instances, not all, the employee still needs to perform essential job functions with or without reasonable accommodations. These are complicated matters. Those of us who practice strict employment law don't handle social security disability or workers compensation. Employment lawyers usually need clients who are ready, able and willing to work and keep searching for work after some discriminatory action. Not sure if yours involves discrimination because you provided limited facts. Consider all of the above and act accordingly. If you did not qualify for unemployment benefits that's another thing we look at. Most clients collect those benefits after a discriminatory action. Although there are some types of actions like unpaid overtime or improper classification of being exempt where employees may still recover. You need to start calling some lawyers based on some of the above suggestions. An employment lawyer might not be what you really need but with the facts you gave you should act quickly or risk missing a filing deadline. And filing without legal counsel of your choosing is often not a great idea. Many claims are dismissed unless there are facts to support some plausible theory of recovery. Good luck.  ... Read More

There is no law which requires employers to conduct investigations. However, it is good practice and makes sense to do so in order to prepare to defend whatever action the employer decides to take. Sometimes the Justice Center requests that employers conduct the initial investigation and provide its findings to the Justice Center. Cooperative employers do so but they can take whatever time they think they need to complete that investigation. This looks like a case where you need to retain legal counsel to defend you before the Justice Center. The Justice Center is no joke. They sometimes refer cases to a district attorney's office and work closely with law enforcement when they have to. Vulnerable citizens include minors, elders, and vulnerable persons with disabilities. All of those persons are very protected. If an allegation involves any of those types of persons then you will definitely want to retain legal counsel. Protected persons do not even have to testify at those hearings. The investigator can testify on behalf of the person they interviewed and they can introduce business records, sometimes medical records, and even police reports to support findings. Remember that these cases, unless they are accepted by the district attorney's office, are not criminal. But that does not mean that they are very, very serious. The burden of proof is much lower than for a criminal case so if the evidence is strong against an employee they could, depending on the severity of the allegation, be placed on an exclusion list after a certain number of points and be unable to work in the industry dealing with vulnerable persons. You need to retain defense counsel to examine all of the allegations, all of the evidence, and decide your best course of action. You may be waiting a very, very long time for resolution. Seek legal counsel now! This is not legal advice and there is no lawyer client relationship. These are just suggestions from a lawyer who has appeared before the Justice Center which is serious business.... Read More