New York Employment Attorneys Blog

Tragic news coming from Queens as a woman who bravely accused her employer of sexual harassment was killed in a fire last night. Bianca Wisniewski had claimed that her employer had created a hostile work environment where she was routinely harassed by members of the construction crew and her superiors. Following this conduct, she sued the construction company and JP Morgan Chase.

The fire came on the eve of an evidence hearing in her case. While firefighters have claimed that the fire was not suspicious, the dispatcher had originally directed the fire crews to the wrong address, delaying them by six minutes or more.

The Daily News has more on the story here- Bianca Wisniewski's $20M sexual harassment lawsuit to go on despite hardhat's death in fire: lawyer
This is tragic news, and our sympathies at the Harman Firm go out to Ms. Wisniewski and her family at this time.

A Brooklyn chef working at Tina's Restaurant was fired after telling his boss he needed to go to the hospital. The 36 year old father of two was let go after taking the time off to see to his illness, leaving him unemployed with very few other options.

The employee has attracted the attention of Councilwoman Gael Brewer, who has introduced legislation recently that would require employers to give full time employees paid sick time. This maneuver would help workers across the city cope with the effects of illnesses without losing their jobs. Having to pay for health care on top of losing ones job is a situation no able worker should be in.

We here at the Harman Firm believe workers should not have to risk their jobs to attain health care. We support the actions of Councilwoman Brewer in her quest to help workers cope with illness and protect their jobs in their absence.

Late last year, the Supreme Court ruled on the matter of Gross v. FBL, greatly raising the bar for proving that an individual had been the victim of age discrimination. The court deemed that the plaintiff must prove that the adverse employment effect was directly related to ones age, and not other factors, greatly narrowing the ways in which individuals can bring age discrimination suits.

This case has been widely discussed in the legal and employment worlds as they adapt to these changes in law. This, along with the Ledbetter v. Goodyear decision, which had limited plaintiffs claims for discrimination in pay based on sex, marked a Supreme Court that appeared hostile to the rights of working individuals.

Following the Ledbetter decision, Congress acted to help re-enforce the rights of individuals who had been systematically paid less that workers of different gender. And it appears that in light of this recent decision, members of Congress are working on a law that would help strengthen the rights of workers who believe they have been discriminated against based on their age.

This week, Sen. Patrick Lahey and others plan on introducing a new bill that would help work against the decision laid out in Gross v. FBL Financial. This would help to reestablish the rights of older workers who feel that they have been discriminated against in the work place.
We here at The Harman Firm are glad to see our Congress take such action in light of a Supreme Court that has been extremely hostile towards the rights of workers and have undermined the rights that people have fought long and hard to gain. With the current Obama administration, we hope to see more of this type of legislation and an affirmation of the rights of workers everywhere.

Last night David Letterman managed to continue to shock and surprise viewers. Rather than pulling some stunt, or inviting Barack Obama, Letterman revealed his recent personal experiences. In a stunning move, Dave asked the audience "Do you feel like a story?" He then recounted a CBS employee's attempt to extort 2 million dollars from him in exchange for keeping quiet on known affairs with his employees.

Letterman says he received a package from a CBS employee, an Emmy Winning Producer for "48 Hours", demanding the money or else he would go public with the information. Letterman aided authorities in catching the accused producer, and decided to come clean to the audience about his affairs with his employees.

While this is a personal matter, it highlights the pitfalls of romantic and sexual relationships at work. Any workplace sexual relationship can put individuals in difficult situations, and affect job performance, and complicate the work environment. Individuals in the media or in positions of power, such as politicians and entertainers, need to be even more cautious about engaging in sexual relationships with employees; what might seem consensual at the time can easily be perceived by an employee (or a third party) to be non-consensual at a later time.

While we understand Mr. Letterman's attempt to stem any gossip regarding the admitted affairs stemming from the criminal investigation, we disagree with the ways in which he quickly dismisses sexual relationships with his staff and coworkers. While all the details have not yet been revealed, it is troubling to us that he can casually brush off the very sensitive and risky implications of engaging in sexual relationships with employees.