#workplace discrimination
Every year, sexual assault in the workplace affects many female New York city employees. According to the National Center for biotechnology information, as many as 58% of female employees experience sexual harassment or sexual assault in the workplace. Sexual assault is a crime in New York City, and law enforcement are responsible for investigating sexual assault crimes.
Prosecutors can bring criminal charges against the assailant. Sadly, many victims never receive justice as their assailants are not charged, not convicted, or engage in a plea deal for a less severe sentence than they deserve. What should a victim do who has been assaulted in her place of employment? Victims of sexual assault in the workplace have several options for obtaining compensation for their injuries. If you or your loved one has experienced sexual assault in the workplace, there are legal steps you can take to seek justice and protect yourself.
Contact the Police
Discussing your sexual assault with law enforcement offers can be extremely difficult. Victims of sexual assault often feel isolated and embarrassed after the assault takes place. You may be understandably worried about your co-workers finding out about the sexual assault. Sexual assault is a crime in New York, no matter where the assault happens. Survivors of sexual assault in the workplace should report the incident to law enforcement as soon as possible. If your assailant is dangerous and your safety is in jeopardy, law enforcement will work with you to ensure that you are safe. They will begin an investigation that will hopefully lead to your assailant being convicted for the sexual assault.
Please read the complete article at Women’s Rights NY Blog.
Despite making numerous gains in the last 30 years, women still face significant challenges in the workplace. At Tuckner, Sipser, Weinstock & Sipser, LLP, we believe that all women should have equal access to employment. Women should also be able to work free from gender discrimination.
At our law firm, we focus on representing women who have suffered injuries due to illegal discrimination in the workplace. Many of our cases focus on enforcing the following laws, which were enacted to protect women in the workplace. If you have faced discrimination in the workplace, our law firm can help. Contact us today to schedule your free initial consultation. Find out more about the eight laws that protect women in the workplace here -
https://womensrightsny.com/eight-laws-protect-women-workplace/
freshfruitforrottingvegetablez:
An incomplete list of things that employers commonly threaten that are 100% illegal in the United States
- “We’ll fire you if you tell others how much you’re making” The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 specifically protects employees who discuss their own wages with each other (you can’t reveal someone else’s wages if you were given that information in the course of work, but you can always discuss your own or any that were revealed to you outside of work duties)
- “If we can’t fire you for [discussing wages/seeking reasonable accommodation/filing a discrimination complaint/etc], we’ll just fire you for something else the next day.” This is called pretextual termination, and it offers your employer almost no protection; if you are terminated shortly after taking a protected action such as wage discussion, complaints to regulatory agencies, or seeking a reasonable accommodation, you can force the burden onto your employer to prove that the termination wasn’t retaliatory.
- “Disparaging the company on social media is grounds for termination” Your right to discuss workplace conditions, compensation, and collective action carries over to online spaces, even public ones. If your employer says you aren’t allowed to disparage the company online or discuss it at all, their social media policy is illegal. However, they can forbid releasing information that they’re obligated to keep confidential such as personnel records, business plans, and customer information, so exercise care.
- “If you unionize, we’ll just shut this branch down and lay everyone off” Threatening to take action against a group that unionizes is illegal, full stop. If a company were to actually shut down a branch for unionizing, they would be fined very heavily by the NLRB and be opening themselves up to a class-action lawsuit by the former employees.
- “We can have any rule we want, it’s only illegal if we actually enforce it” Any workplace policy or rule that has a “chilling effect” on employees’ willingness to exercise their rights is illegal, even if the employer never follows through on any of their threats.
- “If you [protected action], we’ll make sure you never work in this industry/city/etc again.” Blacklisting of any kind is illegal in half the states in the US, and deliberately sabotaging someone’s job search in retaliation for a protected action is illegal everywhere in the US.
- “Step out of line and you can kiss your retirement fund/last paycheck goodbye.” Your employer can never refuse to give you your paycheck, even if you’ve been fired. Nor can they keep money that you invested in a retirement savings account, and they can only claw back the money they invested in the retirement account under very specific circumstances.
- “We’ll deny that you ever worked here” not actually possible unless they haven’t been paying their share of employment taxes or forwarding your withheld tax to the government (in which case they’re guilty of far more serious crimes, and you might stand to gain something by turning them in to the IRS.) The records of your employment exist in state and federal tax data, and short of a heist that would put Oceans 11 to shame, there’s nothing they can do about that.
PSA.
ALSO GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING! A verbal contact is nice but for the love of Jesus make sure there’s a written record of everything your employer tells you regarding this shit.
Also, while we’re on the subject, if they say something like this in a verbal conversation but refuse to put it in writing, document it yourself. Sit down that day after work, and draft a dated contemporaneous memo stating what happened and what they said. Save it so that if they claim that your story has changed and you’re making up new things about them, you can prove that it hasn’t, and that you aren’t. Possibly even email it to yourself or a non-work friend so that it is clearly and unambiguously time-stamped. Even if it’s your word against theirs that it happened, being able to prove that your side of the story has stayed consistent can go a long way.
Mail a hard copy to yourself by registered mail and don’t open it when it arrives. It’s sealed and from a legal source.
Australia: Lesbian forced out of army will address Royal Commission
Australia: Lesbian forced out of army will address Royal Commission
Decorated army veteran Yvonne Sillett will appear at the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide on Monday. Yvonne was driven out of the Australian Army over her sexuality three years before the government changed policy and allowed gays and lesbians to serve.
Yvonne says on the Discharged LGBTI Veterans’ Association website (DLVA) that she joined the Army at 18. After then qualifying…
Credit: Africa Studio Shutterstock
By Shardell Joseph
Celebrating LGBT in STEM day, the science, technology engineering and mathematics divisions will not only embrace diversity, but also focus on the challenges to social inclusion in a professional environment. A recent survey highlighted the discrimination LGBTQ+ scientists still face within the workplace to the extent that they contemplate leaving their jobs.
According to the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), Institute of Physics and Royal Astronomical Society survey – Exploring the workplace for LGBT+ physical scientists – 28% of LGBTQ+ considered quitting in the past year, and one in five trans scientists thinks about it often. With more than one thousand people contributing to the survey – 588 of which were analysed in detail – 16% of respondents were found to have experienced exclusionary behaviour in the past year, while 30% have witnessed this behaviour.
Comfort levels in a working climate are on the rise, as reported in the survey, yet unlike other aspects of diversity, identity is often hidden from others within the workplace. Visual identifiers, such as flags, are helping to create an inclusive culture, but the day-to-day actions of those in the workplace, particularly senior figures, was a cause for concern. The survey stated that almost 50% agreed there was a lack of overall awareness of LGBT+ issues in the workplace.
A total of 60% thought that their organisation’s policies and procedures were supportive or very supportive of LGBTQ+ staff within STEM – men were found to be more likely to report positively regarding policies. Yet, 17% felt that there was a general absence of LGBTQ+ support or even discrimination – women were slightly less likely to feel supported, and non-binary and trans individuals even less so.
In light of LGBT in STEM day, Materials Scientist and Engineer and Pride in STEM Trustee, Dr Ben Britton, spoke with Materials World about the current state of inclusivity in science, and what can be done to improve the workplace environment for LGBTQ+ scientists.
Dr Ben Britton FIMMM
‘For employers, the most important thing you can do is stop assuming that everyone is straight. Review your policies for LGBTQ+ employees, ask your LGBTQ+ employees what matters to them, prioritise protecting people and the creation of an inclusive working environment,’ Britton said.
‘Consider supporting visible icons, e.g. flying the pride flag, to share your culture with your employees as well as those who you work with. Support the development of networks, both through providing money but also encourage senior management to attend and engage with social initiatives and meetings.
‘Hopefully together we can help continue this shift in the fabric of our society and our profession, of the power that comes from embracing and understanding equality, diversity and inclusivity.’
For the full article with Dr Ben Britton, go to bit.ly/2KRlZJxl
