New York Employment Legal Questions

Parents should be reminded that once a hospital photo is on line it violates their child's HIPAA rights. A potential employer might discriminate against that child down the road. Remind them that privacy is important for both you and the child. No one should be able to identify where you work unless you consent. Ask the parent if they would consent to having their picture taken with "psychiatric wing" printed above the child's head? Or of the actual intimate procedure being performed on the kid? Pictures are for outings. Going to the hospital does not qualify. Education is key. Unfortunately social media is out of control and many have no idea of the potential harm it creates. HR could make it a policy. But enforcing it would require in hospital security removing the parents. Kind of tough to forbid cell phones in hospitals or have security run around and tell parents no photos like they do at the Met. Not the Mets. If you used the former example their response might be "where is that"?... Read More

I know absolutely nothing about the facts of your case or its procedural history. I do know that you need legal counsel if you are in federal court. I also know that no employer, no matter how strong your evidence might be, has to settle or agree to settlement. If your case is not yet "at issue" you need to make sure it gets there. If you don't know what that means that's a great reason to retain legal counsel. Many, many many cases are dismissed before they are "at issue". Were the case to reach such point then all employment cases are referred to mediation but that does not assure resolution. If you are scheduled for mediation, then you absolutely, positively should have legal counsel to advise you during that process because you could miss a golden opportunity to resolve your case; regardless of the employer's stance at inception. Remember that nowadays, some of us will enter a limited appearance on a case just for a specific portion of that case, with the court' s permission of course. Were you to reach out to one of us for mediation only we might agree to undertake just that portion of the case. The reason for saying this is because we assume you have spoken to many attorneys before filing suit and there was no mutually agreeable representation arrangement reached which sometimes means that your claims may be tough to prove. Most are. Or that your case may not be as strong as you might think it is. Sometimes, if we can prepare the pre-mediation statement sufficiently to try to get whatever mediator is assigned to look favorably at your claim from the start, there might be a possibility of settling at that point. However, that will require a VERY candid discussion regarding what your expectations are and a written, signed, fee agreement before any representation occurs. A lawyer who appears at mediation without putting in substantial work to prepare for mediation is unlikely to be successful at mediation. And that's because you have done little if any discovery at that point. Laywer up as soon as possible or if you make it to mediation do so before that occurs; possibly just for that segment with court approval of course. For really tough to prove cases resolution is better than a loss and you will need a lawyer to help you see that if that's your situation.  ... Read More

Maybe. Your doctor needs to document precisely why the travel will adversely affect your health. Remember that by doing so your doctor could document that you are no longer able to perform the essential functions of your job. Technically disabled. Be careful. Better option is to accept the transfer and look for another job ASAP. I know that's tough. It's NYC. No one has time. But it's better to be employed while looking for work even though the City law says that unemployment cant be used against you in a job search. Good luck. Yours will be a tough one and hiring a lawyer for that is likely to cost a lot (not a contingent fee case since there does not appear to be money other than hopefully continued employment at the end) with no guarantees.... Read More

Who owns the housing? If it's public housing contact the housing authority. Is the financial power of attorney also the health care proxy? If the Surrogate Court has been involved you can contact the clerk of that court to try to get the Surrogate Judge to help. Contact the New York City Commission on Human Rights. They deal with employment and housing issues. Sounds like possible habitation issues and constructive discharge of you related to the infestation. They might help or will know who can. Contact a housing rights lawyer.  File for unemployment benefits honestly. You quit but were forced to do so. Make sure you have all your evidence. You will probably need to request a hearing or appeal to a hearing officer timely. Good luck.... Read More

Has he complained about unpaid wages to the New York State Department of Labor? Driving with a suspended license means that he was working with unclean hands. Not literally. The common law doctrine of unclean hands says that equity will not be done for someone who was also in the wrong. However New York State takes unpaid wages very seriously. There is case law which states that even someone who performed services under false pretenses (for example pretending they were licensed when not) is entitled to recover the reasonable value of services performed. Your husband should recover the value of his labor. Bullying laws exist in the education system and not workplace. Unless your husband was harassed due to his belonging in a protected class (i.e. because of his age over 40 or because of his race or ethnicity, or some other class to which he belongs etc...) this is not harassment although it might be assault or battery (a separate tort action).... Read More

The ADA is an interactive process. You request they say yes or no or alternative and you go back and forth. If you do this and there is no reasonable accommodation where you can perform without an undue hardship to your employer you may at least have a workers compensation claim, possibly.... Read More

Sounds like you were given a second chance which the employer did not have to do. If the owner or manager called their insurance company or anyone else for advice they were probably cautioned to get rid of potential liability. Physical contact at work is illegal and can be gross misconduct. File for unemployment benefits and go to a hearing, if denied, for further explanation of how bad that is.... Read More

Have you applied for unemployment benefits? New York State is very lenient regarding the award of such benefits as long as claimants are candid and truthful when they apply and during administrative hearings. You should retain legal counsel to make sure you recover unemployment benefits. Witnesses will testify and an administrative law judge will determine the credibility or trustworthiness of each witness. They are generally very good at doing that. They must believe you and you need to disprove, usually by vigorous cross examination, that the other side is not telling the truth. That's why, in your case, retaining legal counsel should help. If they determine that job loss was your fault, after that process, that would be bad. What documents (employee handbooks, emails of past practices, etc...) do you have which state that you are entitled to vacation pay? Everyone is entitled to be paid for all the hours they work, including overtime. If you have not been paid contact the Department of Labor. Good luck.... Read More

Bullying in the workplace is not illegal. If you feared for your safety you could have called the police. In New York, depending on whether you reasonably feared for your safety, you may have been entitled to an order of protection. You should have reported your safety fears to the employer if that's what happened. Your employer may rehire you. To get unemployment benefits you will have to prove that leaving was not your fault. Given your facts that's possible. Constructive discharge, meaning you were forced to quit or leave, is difficult to prove. You must prove that you did not abandon your job and that is possible if you are completely candid about exactly what happened. If you are denied unemployment benefits it will be even harder to prove there was no abandonment or there was constructive discharge. Good luck.... Read More

Did you agree to such docking, in writing? See the labor and employment link from New York State's Department of Labor for details: https://labor.ny.gov/formsdocs/wp/LS605.PDF What is the maximum deduction established by your employer per New York's Wage and Hour Law? Is it at or below the maximum permitted by the Wage and Hour Law? If no union contract protects you, no private fixed term employment contracts protect you, and you do not work for the government you probably should arrive earlier than late, ever, to work (even if you have to deal with slower, hot, summer public transportation issues). Tardiness may be the easiest way to terminate an employee as long as the policy is applied uniformly, across the board. You do realize that "at will" employment, assuming none of the above possible protections apply, means that the employer needs absolutely no reason at all to terminate an employee. Don't give your employer an easy reason when they don't even need one.... Read More

Generally, how vacation time is accrued and/or paid out at the end of employment is usually in an employee hadbook or some socuments that outlines the employee beneifits.  Of course, if your company did not have such a policy or handbook, you should contact an attorny for a more specific answer.... Read More