If you have a claim against your employer for discrimination, harassment or any other violation of your rights as an employee, taking legal action starts with making informed decisions. In this scenario, there are both steps you need to take and mistakes you need to avoid—and, if you aren’t careful, you could lose the ability to seek the remedies you deserve.
What Not to Do if You Have a Claim for Discrimination, Harassment or Another Violation of Your Legal Rights
With this in mind, what shouldn’t you do if you are a victim of discrimination, harassment, or any other violation of your legal rights in the workplace? Here are seven important mistakes to avoid in this scenario:
1. Trying to Hold Your Employer Publicly Accountable
While it may be tempting to try to hold your employer publicly accountable on social media, you need to resist this temptation for the time being. Accusing your employer of discrimination or harassment on social media—even if your accusations are true—could make your situation more challenging than necessary.
For now, you should keep the details of your situation between you and your lawyer. Your lawyer will be able to help you make informed decisions about how to handle your situation—and, if it makes sense to go public, your lawyer will be able to help you say the right thing at the right time.
2. Trying to Handle Your Situation on Your Own
Speaking of keeping the details of your situation between you and your lawyer, you should not try to handle your situation on your own. Instead, you should hire an experienced New York employment lawyer to help you. If you are a victim of discrimination, harassment, or any other violation of your legal rights in the workplace, there are several ways an experienced lawyer will be able to help you. These include (but are not limited to):
- Dealing with your employer on your behalf
- Determining what claim (or claims) you are eligible to file
- Preserving the documentation needed to file your claim (or claims)
- Taking all necessary legal action on your behalf
- Negotiating with your employer or taking your employer to court if necessary
All of these are challenging and complex steps—and this makes experienced legal representation essential. Once you hire an experienced lawyer to represent you, you can feel confident that you are making informed decisions and that you have an advocate handling your situation with your best interests in mind.
3. Trusting Your Employer to Do the Right Thing
This brings us to our next mistake to avoid: When you have a claim against your employer, you should not trust your employer to do the right thing. In this scenario, most employers will put their best interests first. They will focus on minimizing their liability exposure, and they will try to prevent the situation from leading to discord or distrust within their workforce.
Even if your employer promises to do better in the future, this won’t do anything to address your situation right now. Discrimination, harassment and other violations of your legal rights as an employee can have significant financial and psychological effects. To help ensure that you receive the outcome you deserve, you need an experienced advocate on your side.
4. Overlooking Potential Grounds to Take Legal Action
Many employees are aware that they have rights under laws like Title VII and the Equal Pay Act. However, many employees are not aware that they have rights under various other laws as well. For employees in New York, this includes the New York State Labor Law—which prohibits discrimination, harassment and other unlawful employment practices based on a broad range of protected classes.
When you have a claim against your employer, it is important not to overlook potential grounds to take legal action. By making sure you are considering all of the options you have available, you can ensure that you are not leaving options on the table.
5. Overlooking Remedies that May Be Available to You
Just as you should not overlook potential grounds to take legal action, you also should not overlook remedies that may be available to you. Oftentimes, targeting the right remedies will be essential to pursuing a successful claim. While individual circumstances vary, the types of remedies that are generally available in employment cases include things like:
- Reinstatement of employment
- Placement in an appropriate job position
- Access to reasonable accommodations
- Back pay with interest
- Additional damages for emotional distress and other adverse consequences
Once you hire a lawyer to represent you, your lawyer will be able to assist you with determining which remedy (or remedies) it makes sense for you to seek under the circumstances at hand.
6. Failing to Document What Happened
Importantly, while you can (and should) rely on your lawyer to gather the documentation needed to pursue your claim, you should do your best to document what happened as well. While you need to be careful about taking files from your workplace, you should keep any relevant files you already have in your possession, and you should take detailed notes while the incident is still fresh in your mind.
7. Waiting to Take Legal Action
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you should not wait to take legal action. If you believe you have a claim against your employer (or if you don’t know and want to find out), you should schedule a free consultation with a lawyer promptly. Again, your lawyer will help you make informed decisions with your best interests in mind, and if you have grounds to take legal action, your lawyer can get to work promptly on your behalf.
Schedule a Free Consultation with a New York Employment Lawyer at Bell Law Group
Do you need to know more about pursuing a claim against your employer? If so, we encourage you to contact us promptly. To schedule a free consultation with a New York employment lawyer at Bell Law Group, please call 516-280-3008 or contact us confidentially online today.
