Your race should never decide your paycheck, your promotion, or your future.

Racial discrimination in the workplace remains one of the most serious and pervasive forms of employment discrimination, and it can take many forms: being passed over for a promotion, paid less than your peers, subjected to a hostile work environment, or terminated, all because of your race. If you believe your employer has treated you differently because of your race, the attorneys at Dudani Law are here to help. We represent employees throughout New York and New Jersey who have been subjected to racial discrimination in the workplace.

What our clients typically experience

The clients we represent rarely have a manager who said something openly racist. They have a record instead: who got promoted, who got the good assignments, who got disciplined for the same thing others did without consequence. They come to us to find out whether the pattern they have felt for years can be proven. Often it can.

What Is Racial Discrimination in Employment?

Racial discrimination occurs when an employer takes an adverse employment action against an employee or job applicant because of their race. Prohibited conduct includes, but is not limited to:

• Failure to hire or promote
• Termination or demotion
• Unequal pay or benefits
• Racially hostile work environment
• Disparate work assignments
• Negative performance reviews motivated by racial bias

Discrimination does not have to be overt to be illegal. Employers rarely announce discriminatory intent. More often, racial bias is embedded in patterns of conduct: who gets promoted, who gets the desirable assignments, who gets pushed out, and it takes a skilled attorney to build the evidentiary record that reveals those patterns. Racial discrimination can also be perpetrated by someone of the same race as the employee. A supervisor who is herself a person of color may still discriminate against an employee based on race-related characteristics such as skin tone, hair texture, or facial features. This is sometimes referred to as same-race discrimination or colorism, and it is fully actionable under applicable law.

Signs You May Have a Claim

• You watched a less qualified colleague of a different race get the promotion, raise, or assignment that should have been yours.
• Your performance reviews suddenly turned negative after a change in supervision or after you raised a concern.
• Managers or coworkers made comments about your race, accent, hair, or name, and nothing was done about it.
• You were excluded from meetings, client work, or training that similarly situated colleagues attended.
• Discipline for the same conduct fell on workers of your race and not on others.
• A facially neutral policy (grooming, scheduling, background checks) lands harder on workers of your race.

Laws That Protect You

Federal Law: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Title VII prohibits employers with 15 or more employees from discriminating against employees or job applicants on the basis of race. It covers a wide range of adverse employment actions and provides for compensatory and, in cases of egregious conduct, punitive damages. Damages under Title VII are capped based on employer size.

New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL)

The New York State Human Rights Law prohibits race discrimination by employers of all sizes operating in New York State. The NYSHRL provides protections that are broader than federal law in certain respects and covers workers outside New York City who may not be covered by the city law.

New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL)

The New York City Human Rights Law is widely regarded as one of the most expansive anti-discrimination statutes in the country. To establish a claim under the NYCHRL, a worker need only show that they were treated less well than other employees because of their race, and that the differential treatment was more than trivial or petty. Courts are required to construe the NYCHRL broadly in favor of plaintiffs asserting discrimination claims.

New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD)

The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination prohibits employers from discriminating against employees or job applicants on the basis of race in any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, compensation, and the terms and conditions of work. The NJLAD applies to employers of all sizes and is considered one of the most employee-protective anti-discrimination statutes in the nation. As of December 2025, New Jersey codified a comprehensive disparate impact framework under the NJLAD, making clear that facially neutral employment policies that disproportionately harm workers of a particular race are prohibited, even without proof of discriminatory intent.

Types of Racial Discrimination Claims

Disparate Treatment

Disparate treatment discrimination occurs when an employer intentionally treats an employee differently because of their race. If you were terminated during a reduction in force and your employer allowed your race to influence that decision, or if you are paid less than coworkers in the same role because of your race, you may have a disparate treatment claim.

Disparate Impact

An employer can also be held liable for race discrimination when it applies a seemingly neutral policy that disproportionately harms workers of a particular race, even if the policy was not adopted with discriminatory intent. New Jersey's NJLAD expressly addresses this theory and now has a codified regulatory framework supporting it. Workers in New York City may also pursue disparate impact claims under the NYCHRL.

Hostile Work Environment

A racially hostile work environment can be established through a pattern of racist jokes, slurs, imagery, or commentary that makes the workplace demeaning or abusive. Under the NYCHRL, the harassing conduct need not be severe or pervasive; it need only subject the employee to inferior terms or conditions of employment based on race. Under federal and New York State law, the standard requires a showing that the conduct was severe or pervasive enough to alter the conditions of employment. Under the NJLAD, harassment based on race is similarly prohibited.

Same-Race Discrimination and Colorism

Racial discrimination does not require that the perpetrator be of a different race than the victim. A supervisor of the same racial background can still discriminate against an employee on the basis of race-related characteristics, including skin tone, hair texture, or facial features. For example, if a supervisor refuses to assign a darker-skinned employee to a client-facing role out of a belief that customers will respond negatively to that employee's appearance, this may constitute actionable discrimination under applicable law.

How to Document

• A private log kept on a personal device or notebook, never on a work computer, with dates, times, locations, and who was present.
• Emails, text messages, chat threads, and screenshots showing comments, comparators, or shifts in treatment.
• Performance reviews, write-ups, and disciplinary notices, especially any that conflict with prior reviews.
• The names of witnesses and what they saw or heard.
• The company anti-discrimination policy and any handbook the employer ignored.

Retaliation Is a Separate Violation

Retaliation against employees who report racial discrimination or participate in an investigation is prohibited under all applicable laws. Retaliation can include demotion, reduction in hours, hostile treatment, or termination. If you experience any negative change in your employment situation after making a complaint, document it carefully and contact an attorney promptly. A retaliation claim often succeeds even when the underlying discrimination claim is close.

What Damages Can I Recover?

• Back pay for wages and benefits lost from the time of the adverse action.
• Front pay for future earnings you would have received but for the discrimination.
• Compensatory damages, including emotional distress and mental anguish (uncapped under the NYSHRL, NYCHRL, and NJLAD).
• Punitive damages, available in cases of particularly egregious conduct (uncapped under the NYCHRL and NJLAD).
• Attorneys' fees and costs.

The specific damages available to you will depend on which law you pursue your claim under, your employer's size, and the nature of the conduct. Under the New York City Human Rights Law and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, compensatory damages are not capped, which can significantly increase a recovery.

Why Clients Choose Dudani Law

• We build the pattern. Discrimination is rarely announced, so we gather the comparators, timing, and records that reveal it.
• We use every law. Federal, New York State, New York City, and New Jersey, whichever combination gives you the strongest claim.
• Aggressive advocacy. We are relentless in negotiations and in the courtroom.
• No fee unless we win. We handle race discrimination cases on a contingency basis.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I do if I experience racial discrimination at work?

Start by documenting everything. Write down the date, time, location, and individuals involved for each incident. Preserve any emails, text messages, voicemails, or other communications that bear on your claim. If your employer has a human resources department, consider whether to make an internal complaint, as doing so can create a record, though it can also trigger retaliation concerns that your attorney can help you navigate. The most important step you can take is to consult an employment attorney as early as possible.

Can I be retaliated against for reporting racial discrimination?

Retaliation against employees who report racial discrimination or participate in an investigation is prohibited under all applicable laws. Retaliation can include demotion, reduction in hours, hostile treatment, or termination. If you experience any negative change in your employment situation after making a complaint, document it carefully and contact an attorney promptly.

What if I wasn't promoted because of my race?

Failure to promote based on race is a form of disparate treatment discrimination. Look closely at who was promoted and whether individuals of your race are represented at higher levels in your organization. We look at the comparative evidence, who else was considered, what the qualifications were, what was said in the room, and build the record from there.

What if I am being paid less than my coworkers because of my race?

Federal, New York, and New Jersey law all prohibit pay discrimination based on race. If you believe your compensation is lower than that of similarly situated coworkers because of your race, and not because of a legitimate business reason, you may have a claim. Gathering information about the pay structure in your workplace, to the extent you are able to do so, can be an important first step.

What if I haven't received the same benefits as my coworkers?

If your employer is providing you with lesser benefits than coworkers in comparable positions, and you believe race is the reason, keep a careful record of what benefits others receive and any comments your supervisor or manager has made about the disparity. There are sometimes legitimate business reasons for benefit differences such as seniority, role, or employment status, but where no such reason exists, the disparity may constitute discrimination.

Can I file a claim if I work for a small employer?

Yes. Title VII applies to employers with 15 or more employees, but the NYSHRL, NYCHRL, and NJLAD apply regardless of employer size. If your employer is too small to be covered by federal law, you may still have strong claims under state and local law.