New York Employment Attorneys Blog

A local woman who worked for the Penthouse Gentleman's Club in New York City has come out with charged accusations against her former employees. The woman, Lourdes Garcia, claims that while working as a cocktail waitress for the west-side club she was constantly sexually harassed, and was subjected to a number of comments regarding her breast size by her managers in front of customers.

As well, the suit filed in Federal court claims that she was subjected to constant sexual advances of her managers, and that when she tried to complain about the subject, she was terminated two weeks before Christmas.

The Penthouse Club is accused of retaliating against Garcia for complaining about her sexual harassment, as well as for the sexual harassment that she has alleged.

President Obama has made representations lately that he will inform the Department of Defense to begin dismantling the controversial and discriminatory policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". The policy, which states that any homosexual service member should not be open, or tell anyone of their sexual orientation while serving in the United States Military, has caused thousands of troops to be removed from serving in the military.

The policy, following Bill Clinton's election campaigns to let all American's serve in the military, served on a compromise repealing the blanket ban on allowing homosexuals into the military and instead focused on making it a non-issue by ignoring sexual orientation. However, service member's sexual orientation was often revealed in the course of duty, and would often result in a service member being discharged from the military.

Of the soldiers lost to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", a large number of these have been translators fluent in Arabic, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan in this past decade. The loss of these translators, coupled with the thousands of other service members, is a sad testament to the United States' Government's discriminatory and hypocritical stance on equality for all individuals; for the Government to insist that we are all equal, and to provide protection for all employees of the Federal government but to deny the same rights to those keeping America safe here and abroad is absolutely despicable. In total, the US Military has lost over 13,000 troops to discharge as a result of the policy since 1993, damning numbers when considering how stretched our current military forces are fighting two war's in the Middle East, while maintaining a domestic presence.

Obama's signaling that this policy will be coming to an end is promising for equal rights for all American's, and a sign that the fearful specter of homosexuality and other hateful and harmful ideas are on the wane in America. We salute President Obama, and hope to see a swift repeal of this policy.

Salon has an extremely interesting look into allegations of a cover up concerning a psychiatrists experience at Camp Lejuene. The psychiatrist, who treated returning Navy veterans, claims that he was fired when he raised his concerns regarding the treatment of soldiers returning with PTSD, as well as had his records doctored following his termination from Camp Lejuene.

Check out the whole article here: Navy supervisor doctored whistle-blower's records

A number of events, including the attempted Christmas Day bombing, have highlighted the security surrounding our transportation systems in America. However, a number of recent claims regarding the Air Marshall program have brought the programs into a different light as employees in the program have claimed discrimination and harassment at the hands of supervisors and coworkers.

In one allegation, a supervisor is said to have created a "Jeopardy"-like game, using derogatory names for Hispanics, African-Americans and homosexuals has a way to punish employees and to insult others. Also, a TSA Marshall in Cincinnati claims that her supervisors opened a disciplinary hearing into her work performance after filing a formal complaint for sexual harassment against supervisors.

We at the Harman Firm are terribly shocked at these accusations. No employee should be forced to work in an environment where they are not respected and treated equally, especially for these individuals who work to keep the air safe. It is unfortunate that those we trust with our safety are subjected to such behavior.

A wave of people are calling in sick across the Pond, as thousands of people in the UK participated in "National Sickie Day". The first Monday in February has seen one of the highest rates of individuals calling out sick from work. However, individuals are no longer just calling out from work with the telltale horse voice, or claims of eating some bad chicken, with some bosses and HR professionals accepting emails and text messages from employees who claim to be ill.

What's your take on this situation? Is it high time for America to have "National Sickie Day" as well? Or is it dishonest to claim sick days when not actually sick?

In an interesting move, Whole Foods Supermarkets have begun to offer employees an additional ten percent discount on food purchased for those who submit to routine health examinations, don't use tobacco, and comport to low body mass index guidelines. The discount, an additional ten percent on top of the 20% employees already receive, would be a bonus for keeping fit.

The move has received a lot of attention since it was announced, with employees on both sides taking a stance, claiming that it promotes employees to be healthy and be given a financial incentive for doing so. On the other hand, some say that it is a punishment for overweight and unhealthier employees, and that it negatively reinforces the eating habits of some less healthy Whole Foods employees.

What is your take? Is it ok to offer some benefits to thin employees over fat employees? Should heavier people get protection?

A bigger question is there "fattism" in America?

A Times article published today explores the plight of a number of workers in Queens and Brooklyn who have been routinely underpaid and exploited by their employers, as well as an ongoing investigation into labor practices of these shady business:

Most Low-Wage Workers Are Cheated of Pay, Report Finds

This time, a local East Village Italian restaurant is at the heart of a class action dispute regarding pooled tips, unpaid overtime, and a number of other labor violations. The restaurant, Frank, is accused of sharing tips with management and the kitchen staff, cutting into the bartenders and waiters salaries, which are subject to a much lower minimum wage than the $7.15 guaranteed to other workers.

Check out the full article on NY Eater here: Lawyers Seek More Disgruntled Workers to Stick it To Frank

The New York Times City Room blog has an interesting look at what goes on inside New York' Court Houses. Check it out here: In Line at the Courthouse, an Everyday Scene of Drama and Duty

Popular online dating site eHarmony has settled a class action lawsuit where they were accused of discriminating against a number of individuals trying to use the site. In response to earlier cries of discrimination and lawsuits claiming that the site barred gays from looking for partners, eHarmony created a separate site for gay individuals to find dates, called Compatible Partners. Users of that site however have claimed discrimination against eHarmony, stating that bisexual users were discriminated in that they were forced to buy two subscriptions in order to use the service.

You can read the full article on Consumerist here: Dating Site eHarmony Settles Same-Sex Class Action For $2 Million

A Federal Judge in Brooklyn has ordered sweeping changes to be made at the New York City Fire Department, ordering that the City hire more black and Latino firefighters, and giving numerous employees back pay. The ruling, issued by Judge Garafuis of the Eastern District of New York, found that the hiring examination used from the early 90's until recently have had a disparate impact on black and Latino applicants vying for jobs in the FDNY.

In finding for the group of firefighters, Judge Garafuis has instructed the FDNY to overhaul the way in which it screens and hires applicants, and has ordered the city to pay out fines to current minority FDNY employees. The ruling also calls for retroactive promotions for a number of employees who had been subjected to the discriminatory tests.

The ruling also implied that the City must reevaluate its standards for testing firefighters for hiring and promotion, and to ensure that all future tests do not adversely impact minority groups seeking employment.

The New York Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit on behalf of five New York City public students who claim they were harassed and abused by school safety officers employed by the New York City Police.

In an attempt to increase safety in public schools, the NYPD has employed these school safety officers to monitor school situations, and to ensure that all are safe to learn without the threat of violence or fear.

However, these students claim that the fear and intimidation has not come from school bullies, but the officer's themselves. The officer's are accused of abusing their authority by arresting, assaulting, and performing other actions on students in public schools who may have broken rules, but have not committed any crimes. This includes a sixth grader who had been handcuffed for drawing on a desk with an erasable marker, and other assaults on students who had violated school rules.

The five students claim that the officers acted well out of their authority, and have cause serious emotional and physical harm to them.

Read more on the New York Times City Blog, including a PDF of the complaint:
Suit Charges Abuses by School Safety Officers

As this blog has noted over the last few months, notably a New York City Steakhouse Accused of same sex sexual harassment and The Cheesecake Factory settling a same sex harassment suit brought by the EEOC, the EEOC has released a report addressing the rise of male/male sexual harassment in the workplace. The report, released in early January, makes note that increasingly, men are coming forward with claims of harassment against fellow employees and their employers. This marks a shift away from traditional conceptions of sexual harassment, where males have traditionally harassed women in the workplace.

The EEOC's interest in this behavior is reassuring, marking a stronger push towards the rights of all workers to do their job in a harassment-free environment. It also works to de-stigmatize the idea of same sex sexual harassment, and hopefully coax more individuals into reporting this illegal behavior.

A number of former cooks and wait staff of New York City restaurant and bar B Bar have come forward to file a lawsuit against their employer, claiming that the restaurant did not follow standards for paying employees overtime.

The restaurant, owned by prominent restaurant and club owner Eric Goode, is a fixture for the hip New York set, frequently drawing celebrities. Goode, who owns a number of other restaurants including locations at the Maritime and Bowery hotels, is named as an individual defendant in this case.

This seems to be a particularly bad year for FLSA violations at restaurants in New York. Is this the work of a beefed up Department of Labor, with more investigators as promised by President Obama? Or are restaurant workers, who historically have worked for low wages and tips, starting to flex their legal rights as more and more suits hit? In either case, it is a promising sign for employees working the restaurant industry, and for the rights of hourly workers everywhere who are routinely denied overtime pay.

Check out this informative opinion piece on "straight privilege" and the current push for sexual orientation equality in the workplace: Robert Youngs Jr.: Discrimination and privilege need to be re-examined