Treated differently for reasons that have nothing to do with your work?

The federal, state, and city anti-discrimination laws in New York are among the strongest in the country, and Dudani Law uses all of them. We represent employees across New York and New Jersey, where the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination applies to virtually every employer and provides uncapped damages.

What our clients typically experience

Most of our clients did not have a single dramatic moment. They noticed a pattern: the promotion that kept going to someone else, the meetings they stopped being invited to, the sudden bad review right after they spoke up. By the time they call us, they often just want to know whether what they are feeling is something the law actually recognizes. Usually, it is.

What Workplace Discrimination Covers

This is the umbrella. Workplace discrimination claims can arise from any protected characteristic, including:

• Race, color, and ethnicity
• Sex, gender, gender identity, and gender expression
• Sexual orientation (post-Bostock and under state and city law)
• Pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions
• Religion
• National origin and ancestry
• Age (40 and older under the ADEA, and 18 and older under New York and New Jersey law)
• Disability (physical, mental, perceived)
• Genetic information
• Military and veteran status
• Marital and family status (under city law)
• Caregiver status (under the NYCHRL)
• Citizenship and immigration status (under the NYCHRL)
• Domestic violence victim status (under the NYCHRL)
• Arrest or conviction record (limited circumstances)

Each protected characteristic has its own dedicated page with the full legal framework. This page explains how the overlapping laws fit together and how we choose the strongest combination for your case.

Signs You May Have a Claim

• You were fired, demoted, or passed over after a manager learned something about your identity (pregnancy, religion, age, disability, and so on).
• Comments about your race, accent, age, gender, or other protected trait were tolerated by management.
• Discipline for the same conduct fell on workers in your group but not on others.
• A "restructuring," "performance issue," or "culture fit" explanation appeared right after a protected disclosure or complaint.
• You were excluded from meetings, training, or opportunities that similarly situated colleagues attended.
• A facially neutral policy lands harder on you because of who you are.

The Overlapping Layers of Protection

Employees in New York can be covered by as many as three overlapping anti-discrimination laws at once: federal, state, and city. Each statute defines protected classes differently and sets its own coverage rules, and the differences matter. Part of our job is figuring out which law, or combination of laws, gives you the strongest possible claim.

Federal Law

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the ADA, the ADEA, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, and the Equal Pay Act prohibit discrimination at employers with 15 or more employees (20 for the ADEA). Enforced by the EEOC. Title VII damages are capped between $50,000 and $300,000 based on employer size.

New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL)

The NYSHRL applies to employers of every size, down to a single employee. Following amendments effective in 2020, the harassment standard is significantly lower than federal law: conduct is unlawful once it rises above a petty slight or trivial inconvenience. The Faragher-Ellerth defense was eliminated, the statute of limitations is three years, and damages are uncapped.

New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL)

The NYCHRL is one of the most expansive anti-discrimination statutes in the country. Workers need only show they were treated less well than other employees because of a protected characteristic and that the differential treatment was more than trivial. It is construed liberally and independently in favor of plaintiffs. Compensatory and punitive damages are uncapped, and civil penalties run up to $250,000 for willful violations.

New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD)

The NJLAD applies to virtually every New Jersey employer (one or more employees), provides uncapped compensatory and punitive damages, allows two years to sue in court, and 180 days to file with the Division on Civil Rights. As of December 2025, New Jersey codified a comprehensive disparate impact framework at N.J.A.C. 13:16, making facially neutral employment policies, including AI hiring tools, that disproportionately harm protected groups prohibited even without proof of discriminatory intent.

Types of Discrimination Claims

Disparate Treatment

Intentional discrimination, where an employer treats an employee differently because of a protected characteristic. Established through direct evidence (rare) or, more commonly, through circumstantial evidence: comparators, timing, shifting explanations, and patterns.

Disparate Impact

Facially neutral policies that disproportionately harm members of a protected group can give rise to disparate impact claims, even without proof of discriminatory intent. The NJLAD has codified this framework as of December 2025.

Hostile Work Environment

Harassment tied to a protected characteristic that alters the conditions of employment. Under the NYCHRL and the post-2019 NYSHRL, conduct need only rise above a petty slight or trivial inconvenience.

Failure to Accommodate

Failure to provide reasonable accommodations for disability, religion, pregnancy, or domestic violence victim status (under the NYCHRL) is a separate form of discrimination.

What to Do If You Believe You Are Being Discriminated Against

• Talk to a lawyer before you quit, complain in writing, or sign anything. The first moves you make can change the value of your case.
• Document the incidents. Dates, times, places, comments, and witnesses, on a personal device.
• Preserve the proof. Forward key emails to a personal account before access is cut off.
• Watch the timing. Adverse actions that follow protected activity are often the strongest evidence.
• Move on deadlines. EEOC charges are 300 days. NYSHRL and NYCHRL are generally three years. NJLAD is two years in court, 180 days at the Division on Civil Rights.

How to Document

• Emails, texts, schedules, performance reviews, and comparators (who got what).
• The timing of changes after you complained or after a disclosure.
• Names of witnesses and what they saw or heard.
• Your own contemporaneous notes, kept on a personal device.
• Any handbook or policy the employer ignored.

Retaliation Is a Separate Violation

Retaliation for opposing discrimination, filing a complaint, or participating in an investigation is independently illegal under Title VII, the NYSHRL, the NYCHRL, and the NJLAD. Retaliation can include termination, demotion, reduction in hours, exclusion from projects, or a sudden negative review. In many cases, retaliation is easier to prove than the underlying discrimination because the timing tells the story.

What You May Be Owed

• Back pay and front pay
• Compensatory damages including emotional distress (uncapped under the NYSHRL, NYCHRL, and NJLAD)
• Punitive damages (uncapped under the NYCHRL and NJLAD)
• Reasonable attorneys' fees and costs

Why Clients Choose Dudani Law

• We pick the strongest law. Workers in New York City often have federal, state, and city claims at once, and we build around the best combination.
• We prove pretext. "Restructuring" and "culture fit" excuses are where we dig in.
• We move early. The first steps you take, before you quit or sign, can change everything.
• No fee unless we win. We handle workplace discrimination cases on a contingency basis.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I talk to a lawyer before I quit, complain, or sign anything?

Yes, before, not after. The moves you make in the first days, what you put in writing, what you save, whether you complain in writing, and whether you sign a severance, can change the value of your case dramatically. A short call is free.

How do I know which law applies to me?

It depends on where you work, where the conduct happened, and your employer's size. Workers in New York City often have all three (federal, state, city) at once. Workers in New Jersey usually have federal and the NJLAD. We look at all of them and pick the strongest combination.

Do I have to file with a government agency before I can sue?

For federal Title VII, ADA, and ADEA claims, yes, you must file with the EEOC first (within 300 days in both New York and New Jersey). Under the NYSHRL, NYCHRL, and NJLAD, you can go directly to court without an agency charge.

What counts as evidence?

Emails, texts, schedules, performance reviews, comparators (who got what), timing of changes after you complained, names of witnesses, your own contemporaneous notes, and any handbook or policy your employer ignored.