Be specific for work discrimination complaints in New York

Hi I’m Jonas Urba, a New York employment lawyer, here with Employment Law Reality Check. If you’re going to be making a complaint to your employer about discrimination, make sure it’s specific. Too many times I here employees say I complained, it’s protected activity, and it’s not. If you just are in a hostile workplace and you just say my workplace is hostile, my supervisor is giving me a hard time, I can’t get along with my coworkers, that is not a discrimination complaint. Make sure your complaint is specific enough because hostile workplaces need to be related to some class, some protected class of employee to which you belong. Some of the common ones are race, religion, national origin, we all know them, Title VII. But make sure you tie that to your complaint when you go to HR or when you go to your supervisor. And if you’re not sure, for example if you’re not the only one in your protected class, there are numerous employees who belong to the same protected class, make sure you identify which protected class you’re complaining about. In some cases it may be obvious that you’re being stereotyped or you’re being discriminated or prejudiced just because of the group to which you belong but don’t assume that the employer knows what you’re complaining about. So make sure that your complaint is specific enough so it can then be called protected activity and then if you do have a retaliation complaint that could be a great claim. Before you do anything though you should call some employment lawyers. You can call me, I’m Jonas Urba, I serve the entire state of New York or call other lawyers and I can be reached at (212) 731-4776. Attorney advertising. Stay safe.

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