New York Employment Legal Questions

If you have no contract with your employer either union or private employment contract and you don't work for the government then you are probably at will meaning you can leave or they can fire you; no questions asked, no reason needed. Many employees believe their employer has to notify them in writing to fire them, needs some reason to do so or can not change their job duties or job description for no reason. They are wrong. Unless the employer will be breaking a contract or some law they can do any of these things usually with no notice and for no reason. It looks like you are not happy. You need to leave. Don't get fired for gross misconduct or you may not collect unemployment. Look for another job confidentially and discreetly and then leave after you have another job lined up IN WRITING AND FOR A SPECIFIC TERM SUCH AS FROM NOW UNTIL JULY 1 2022. If you don't have a term you have no contract and if you don't have a contract the bait and switch might happen again. Good luck and remember that our entire world will likely look and function much differently when or if this ends so be prepared with a written specific term agreement. Unless you could prove for example that you detrimentally relied on their promise to employ you until you die or until you qualify for social security or for one year, etc... and that you told them that you were incurring expenses i.e. selling a house and moving, and now they are firing you, how would you prove detrimental reliance? Good luck. Stay safe if you are being required to work around others face protection is mandatory for all. Make sure people who look healthy don't kill you with a virus they don't know they have.... Read More

What if you do not return to work? Don't you want to recover the leave you earned? Leave is also not wages or earnings although you MUST report it to DOL when you apply for unemployment. Apply for unemployment be honest and tell them what your employer is doing and let DOL figure it out. Good luck. I think everyone should prepare for the potential of not returning to the same job or employer.... Read More

If you earn less than $504 weekly and your pay has been cut over 10% you may qualify for unemployment benefits in New York. If you qualify for even $1 of state unemployment you should receive an additional $600 per week of pandemic unemploymemt until potentially July 26 or 27, 2020 assuming you continue to qualify for state unemployment.... Read More

If you are an "at will" employee you can be fired at any time with or without a reason. Sometimes employees take FMLA leave believing they are safe. Then on the day they return to work are fired for a completely unrelated reason. Unless some type of enforceable contract or civil service law protects an employee's position most employees have no protection absent proving discriminatory animus or motivation by their employer.... Read More

Have you applied for unemployment? You should recover benefits immediately. If your employer honors the date for returning to work then notify DOL when you return to work. If not, keep collecting unemployment while looking for work.   At will employment means that an employer needs no reason to let you go and you need no reason to quit. But if you quit or refuse to work chances are good that you won't qualify for unemployment benefits because your not working will be attributed to you and not the employer.... Read More

You may not even be an independent even if you agreed in writing to be one. You should call some employment lawyers. Hostility by itself is not discrimination but sociopaths sometimes slip up and discriminate. Many are pretty smart but not perfect. You should have some employment lawyer review your contract which you have to have to be an independent contractor. An employment lawyer needs to obtain some information from you. Will this business even survive the coronavirus? You may be entitled to unemployment benefits if the place has closed during the virus which it should have.... Read More

The following link to a case discussing forfeiture penalties may interest you. https://uiappeals.ny.gov/system/files/documents/574321-appeal-decision.pdf You should retain an employment lawyer who handles unemployment hearings ASAP. You asked someone to file your unemployment claim for you. That person must have been given your confidential PIN to claim benefits correct? PIN stands for "personal identification number". Will you testify under oath that this "someone" was you since you gave them your number? What reason would DOL have for assigning a PIN to you except to impress upon you that only you can claim benefits? Were you to testify in this manner, what chance of success might you have? Retain legal counsel IMMEDIATELY! You can't live without her or him.... Read More

Are you an "at will" employee? No union, no private contract, not working for the government. If you are "at will" the employer needs no reason to let an employee go. None. So, technically you do not have to provide the police report. But if you don't, and you are "at will", the employer does not need to keep you on the payroll. The more important question is why do they want the police report? Do you have a history of absences? Do they not believe the excuse? If the employer does not believe you then you need to take action immediately to repair that situation. You probably took photographs of the damage to the cars with your phone. If it was a rental car then that company has a record of damage. If it was a private care then the body shop which repaired the damage has records. If the damage was not repaired on a private care then someone can draft an affidavit of ownership of the car along with sworn statements that the photographs they attach reflect the damage done while you were a passenger. If the driver was the owner then they can provide the affidavit with the photographs.   "At will" employees have to prove discrimination if they object to being terminated. That usually requires an employment lawyer. You should call several employment lawyers and ask them whether the above is true and what might you do in the event that you are being discriminated. If it's not discrimination, better to start the job hunt now. Good luck.... Read More

It's all about control. Those who control are generally employers. And the test for control differs from one governmental agency to another.   Many employers and employees think they can call themselves an independent contractor and that makes them a 1099 contractor. Not true.   Only the Department of Labor decides based on a complex fact based analysis who is or is not an employee. I have represented clients who they themselves believed were 1099s, who signed written contracts that they were independent, who the DOL determined were employees even though their pay rates for a year would have been a quarter million dollars and the 1099 contractor even decided their own rate of pay.   This misclassification can be very costly for an employer. Employment lawyers should be consulted.... Read More

What do your civil service papers say? Employee handbook, collective bargaining agreement, performance evaluations over 5 years, any and all verbal or written disciplinary notices over 5 years, promotions, etc... make sure you obtain a complete copy of your personnel file. It is subject to FOIL so anyone could obtain it if they paid for copies.   What does your union recommend? You need to exhaust all of your administrative remedies. If you face an adverse employment action which is sustained make sure to timely appeal that. Retaining private lawyers will be expensive so cooperating with union counsel might be a good idea.   If none of the above work are you being discriminatorily targeted? None of your facts reflect that. Consult with employment lawyers for possible discrimination although data security breaches if you should have known sound potentially serious. Especially if you deal with CONFIDENTIAL data that sounds compromising or potentially compromising.   We live in strained times. Data breaches can be catastrophic and the state or local governments have serious duties to protect breaches or even potential breaches. You have your work cut out for you. If you dont work as hard as your union or private counsel does to save your career it might be short lived.  Good luck.... Read More

In general, not complying with a company's cellphone use policy can be grounds for termination.  However, that policy cannot be enforced in a discriminatory manner or in a way that violates other protected rights . . .  such as Familial Status (Parental Status) protection.  Of course every situation is fact specificand can include many variables.... Read More

Call Harvey Sanders or Lindy Korn. Or look under NELA or the state or county bar associations which have lawyer referral services. You might be responsible for unpaid wages which you may not have thought about. In New York those can go back 6 years and most employers do not keep great records. So even though you say part time if they can credibly argue full time or more unemployment might be the least of your concerns. Good luck. Sorry to hear about your husband but his condition is unlikely to have any bearing on labor laws.... Read More

Absolutely if you breached any common law duties of loyalty or confidentiality. You have a common law duty of loyalty to your employer. Even after you leave you can not disclose confidential information which you were privy to while you worked for a former employer. Even if an employer does not take reasonable steps to keep client lists confidential, once you are on notice not to contact clients your best option is to stop. Since you say the employer "would get an attorney" it sounds like you no longer work for this employer. That's all the more reason to stop. In some cases you might owe not just your own attorney's fees but in many cases employees find themselves having to reimburse their former employer for its attorney's fees as well. You should consult an employment lawyer immediately for details.... Read More

Maybe. Do you observe any religious holdiay which has been denied to you? Have you requested time off for such a holiday? The more interesting question is how you get paid and how many hours per week you work? Are you salaried? If so, are you sure that you qualify for an exemption? You might be entitled to overtime? You should call and speak to employment lawyers. We can often quickly help you decide whether a more in depth analysis is warranted.... Read More

As I suggested on another list where you posted this question you were likely "at will". They need no reason to fire you. If you chose to date someone at work it is not at all unusual that those relationships eventually result in one or both daters losing their jobs. Was that discrimination? It could have been if the employer did not approve of who you were dating (for example someone of the same gender since gender discrimination is illegal under Title VII "because of sex" prohibitions when such actions are motivated by gender or gender identification). But those are not your facts. If you have a written contract of employment or union agreement pay one of us to review it for you. If you have no protection and there was no discrimination apply for unemployment and secure a new job. Good luck.... Read More

Are you a member of one or more protected classes of employees and if so, was the yelling by your supervisor because of your membership in such class or classes. Yelling at you or demeaning you is not illegal unless that occurred because of your membership in a protected class. This is complicated stuff. Call some employment lawyers to discuss if you believe it was discriminatory. The United States Supreme Court tells us that Title VII is not a general civility code. Your employer can yell, humiliate or demean you unless you can prove it was discriminatory. However, if you happen to work in one of New York City's 5 Boroughs the burden of proof is different. Generally a little easier to prove discrimination in New York City than in the rest of New York and the country. ... Read More