New York Work Injury & Workers Compensation Cases
Welcome to the New York Employment Law
Firm of Leandros A. Vrionedes, Esq. We have offices in
New York City, and serve clients in Brooklyn, the Bronx,
Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, Nassau, and Westchester.
For over fifteen years, our lawyers have provided legal
representation and advice to individuals and their families
in New York involved in sexual harassment, discrimination,
and wrongful termination cases. This is a firm dedicated
to providing the finest legal representation to the injured
public throughout New York. We
provide expert and individualized service for your specific
employment law needs. The cornerstone of our success
is the quality relationship, which we maintain with
our clients and/or their families. Our New York Law
Firm focuses on intelligent legal representation and
pledge to listen to and communicate with clients. As
New York Lawyers, we treat our Clients with integrity
and respect for their needs, goals and objectives
Employment
Cases
Federal law prohibits employment discrimination
because of race, color, national origin, legal alienage,
sex, pregnancy, religion, age, disability and union
activity. Employment Discrimination laws generally protect
not only present employees, but also former employees
and some people, like applicants for jobs, who never
have been employees. Most state laws protect workers
on the same grounds as federal law. Several state laws
and some local laws also protect against discrimination
because of marital status, sexual orientation or preference.
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination
that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors,
and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature
constitutes sexual harassment when submission to or
rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects
an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes
with an individual's work performance or creates an
intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.
Sexual harassment can occur in a variety
of circumstances, including but not limited to the following:
- The victim as well as the harasser may
be a woman or a man. The victim does not have to be
of the opposite sex.
- The harasser can be the victim's supervisor,
an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another
area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.
- The victim does not have to be the person
harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive
conduct.
- Unlawful sexual harassment may occur
without economic injury to or discharge of the victim.
- The harasser's conduct must be unwelcome.
- It is helpful for the victim to directly
inform the harasser that the conduct is unwelcome
and must stop. The victim should use any employer
complaint mechanism or grievance system available.
Discrimination based
on Race, Color, Religion and/or National Origin
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
protects individuals against employment discrimination
on the basis of race and color as well as national origin,
sex, or religion.
It is unlawful to discriminate against
any employee or applicant for employment because of
his/her race, color, religion and/or national origin
in regard to hiring, termination, promotion, compensation,
job training, or any other term, condition, or privilege
of employment. No one can be denied equal employment
opportunity because of birthplace, ancestry, culture,
or linguistic characteristics common to a specific ethnic
group. Equal employment opportunity cannot be denied
because of marriage or association with persons of a
national origin group; membership or association with
specific ethnic promotion groups; attendance or participation
in schools, churches, temples or mosques generally associated
with a national origin group; or a surname associated
with a national origin group. Title VII prohibits employment
decisions based on stereotypes and assumptions about
abilities, traits, or the performance of individuals
of certain racial groups. Title VII also prohibits both
intentional discrimination and neutral job policies
that disproportionately exclude minorities and that
are not job related.
Harassment on the basis of race, color
and/or national origin violates Title VII. Ethnic slurs,
racial "jokes," offensive or derogatory comments, or
other verbal or physical conduct based on an individual's
race, color, religion and/or national origin constitutes
unlawful harassment if the conduct creates an intimidating,
hostile, or offensive working environment, or interferes
with the individual's work performance or employment
opportunities
Age Discrimination
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act
of 1967 (ADEA) protects individuals who are 40 years
of age or older from employment discrimination based
on age. The ADEA's protections apply to both employees
and job applicants. Under the ADEA, it is unlawful to
discriminate against a person because of his/her age
with respect to any term, condition, or privilege of
employment -- including, but not limited to, hiring,
firing, promotion, layoff, compensation, benefits, job
assignments, and training.
It is also unlawful to retaliate against
an individual for opposing employment practices that
discriminate based on age or for filing an age discrimination
charge, testifying, or participating in any way in an
investigation, proceeding, or litigation under the ADEA.
The ADEA applies to employers with 20 or
more employees, including state and local governments.
It also applies to employment agencies and to labor
organizations, as well as to the federal government.
Wrongful Termination
When an employee is discharged, the first
question is whether the employee is protected by a job
security system, such as civil service, a collective
bargaining agreement, academic tenure, or other promise
of job security made by the employer. If the employee
has job security, the employer must have good cause
for discharge.
Even if the employee is at-will and does
not have job security, workers are still protected from
termination for illegal reasons. There are many federal
and state laws that make reasons for adverse employment
action illegal. Discrimination because of race, color,
religion, national origin, sex, age, or disability are
all examples of illegal reasons for discharge that can
be challenged.
Legal Remedies
The remedies for discrimination include
what the law calls equitable as well as legal remedies.
Equitable remedies include:
- Lost back pay and future pay
- an order that the employee be reinstated
- an order to the employer to stop discriminating.
- The federal statutes prohibiting discrimination
now provide for a jury trial for claims of intentional
discrimination and also provide legal remedies to
compensate for the pain and suffering the victims
of discrimination have suffered and punitive damages
to punish particularly egregious discriminators. Compensatory
and punitive damages are subject to caps depending
on the size of the employer. While the victims of
age discrimination cannot get punitive damages, the
ADEA does provide for double damages when the employer's
action is found to be willful.
Employees treated in a completely outrageous
way by their employers may be able to bring personal
injury actions against the employer for the intentional
infliction of mental distress.
Workplace
Injuries and Worker's Compensation Claims
The Workers' Compensation Act provides mandated
insurance coverage to workers who are injured on the
job.
The benefits under Workers' Comp can include
weekly payments based on a percentage of the employee's
average weekly wage for temporary total disability,
partial disability, permanent and total disability and
permanent loss of function and disfigurement. Workers'
Comp also covers medical expenses for treatment that
is reasonable, necessary and related to the industrial
injury and vocational rehabilitation services.
Sadly, Workers' Compensation may be insufficient
compensation especially in the case of very serious
and long term personal injuries. In these cases it is
necessary to look for a third party including manufacturer
of the product that caused the injury, lack of safety
devices or some other party who is at fault. Our lawyers
can help locate third parties as well as handling the
Workers' Comp benefits to which you may be entitled.
Workers compensation (or workers comp) provides compensation,
without litigation, for workers injured or disabled
on the job. Workers' compensation is insurance that
provides cash benefits and/or medical care for workers
who are injured or become ill as a direct result of
their job. The Workers' Compensation Board is a state
agency that processes the claims and determines, through
a judicial proceeding, whether a worker will receive
benefits and/or medical care, and how much he/she will
receive. However, as many injured workers can tell you,
workers compensation benefits are not always enough.
Typical New York on the job injuries include:
- Falls from ladders and scaffolds
- Machinery that is defective in
- Toxic chemical injuries
- Product liability
- Lead poisoning
- Construction Accidents
- Head injuries
- Death or dismemberment
An attorney's assistance may be desirable
if the issues are complicated. If a lawsuit is necessary
to get you the benefits that you deserve, you can also
win damages for pain and suffering as well as lost wages.
If a loved one died as a result of negligence, the employer
can also be sued for wrongful death, which will provide
directly for the dependents of the victim. The statue
of limitations is short and the paperwork is complicated.
Call the New York workplace injury attorney Leandros
Vrionedes.
Disability
Benefit Denials
Disability Income policies are drafted with
ambiguous and confusing contractual terms. This provides
insurance companies with multiple reasons for delaying
and denying disability income benefits. Given the complexity
of the legal issues involved and the tendency of insurance
companies to vigorously defend claim denials, evaluation
of any potential legal claim on behalf of an insured
should be handled by a disability attorney or law firm
experienced in insurance claims and bad faith litigation.
If an insurance company has denied a claim
and upheld the denial through internal appeal and grievance
procedures, the insured can sue on a number of legal
theories. The theories include breach of contract, breach
of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing
(bad faith) and under some circumstances infliction
of emotional distress and fraud.
The two primary legal remedies available
in most cases are breach of contract to recover the
value of the denied benefit or service and any incidental
damages and bad faith. Bad faith is the unreasonable
denial of a benefit and may allow recovery for emotional
distress, interest on out-of-pocket losses, damages
for any attorney fee obligations incurred and, in limited
circumstances involving malicious or willful misconduct,
punitive and exemplary damages. These legal remedies
are ones that are available under state law, not federal
law. In addition, especially with regard to the tort
remedies of bad faith, infliction of emotional distress
and fraud, the availability of the remedy and the nature
and extent of damages recoverable vary from state to
state.
All insurance policies contain an implied
obligation applicable to the insurance company of "good
faith and fair dealing" towards its insured. When
a claim is presented, this implied obligation means
that an insurance company cannot simply look for reasons
not to pay. Instead, the company must make a thorough
investigation of the claim, must consider all reasons
and circumstances that might support the claim, and
must give as much consideration to the financial interest
of the insured as it gives to its own financial interest.
If an insurance company refuses to
pay a claim that should be paid or offers to settle
a claim for less than it knows the claim is worth or
denies a claim without adequate investigation, this
could give rise to a so-called bad faith claim against
the insurance company, i.e., a claim that the company
has breached its implied obligation of good faith and
fair dealing. If the company is found to have acted
in bad faith in its handling of a claim, the insured
is entitled to all damages resulting from that action,
including certain types of damages that would not be
available just for breach of contract. In cases of extreme
or outrageous misconduct by an insurance company, the
insured also may be entitled to receive punitive damages.
FAQs
Q: What is the current minimum wage in New York State?
A: For covered employees, the New York State Minimum Wage rate is $7.15 per hour. This amount may be modified based upon a number of factors. For example, Food Service workers --waiters and waitresses -- who earn at least $2.55 per hour in tips may be paid at a minimum wage rate of $4.60 per hour. Different rates exist for other types of service employees, specified within a set of regulations called a "Wage Order", which addresses the unique aspects of each industry or occupation.The minimum wage for janitors in residential buildings is a per unit, rather than an hourly, rate. The current unit rate, for residential janitors earning less than $304.10 per week, is $4.80. In a payroll week, the amount paid to a piece-rate worker must average at least as much as the hourly state minimum wage.
Q: Is everyone covered by the minimum wage requirements?
A: Exceptions to the minimum wage requirements are:
-Executives and administrators earning more than $536.10 per week
-Professionals
-Outside salespersons
-Taxicab drivers
-Government employees (However, certain non-teaching employees of BOCES are covered)
-Part-time babysitters
-Companions to the sick or elderly who live in their employer's home and whose principal duties do not include housework
-Ministers and members of religious orders
-Volunteers, learners, apprentices and students working in non-profit institutions
-Students obtaining vocational experience
-Independent Contractors - people who are in business for themselves - are not considered "employees" and are not covered by the minimum wage requirements. These are the major exclusions.
Q: What are the regulations regarding overtime?
A: Covered employees who work overtime must be paid at a rate that is one and one-half times their regular, "straight-time" hourly rate of pay.
For non-residential employees, this overtime rate applies to all time over 40 hours in a payroll week.
For residential employees ("live-in" workers), this overtime rate applies to all time over 44 hours in a payroll week.
The overtime requirement is based on hours worked in a given payroll week. Thus, time and one-half, double-time -- or any amount higher than the agreed rate -- is not required simply because the work is performed after eight hours per day or on a Saturday or Sunday.
Some categories of employees are excluded from New York State's overtime provisions. These state exemptions from the requirement for overtime pay are identical to the federal overtime exemptions outlined in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), listed by the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division at:
Employees covered by a State Minimum Wage Order must be paid for overtime hours at one and one-half times the basic minimum wage of $7.15 per hour.
Where more than one level of government has jurisdiction, workers get the higher amount of pay.
Q: How many hours can an employer ask an employee to work?
A: There are no restrictions on the number of work hours per day, except for children under 18. Likewise, there are no restrictions on how early in the morning, or how late in the evening, an adult employee may work. In some industries and occupations, an employee must receive 24 hours of rest in each calendar week, for example, work in a factory, mercantile establishment, hotel, and restaurant (except resort/seasonal hotels and small, rural restaurants), as well as elevator operator, watchman, janitor or superintendent.
For a complete list of the "day of rest" provision of the law, go to:
Q: Must meal periods and "breaks" be provided to employees?
A: Employees who work a shift of more than six hours starting before 11 A.M. and continuing until 2 P.M. must have an uninterrupted lunch period of at least half an hour between 11 A.M. and 2 P.M.
For meal period requirements, go to:www.labor.state.ny.us/business_ny/employer_responsibilities/employer/meals.html
Meal periods are not counted as work time, thus employers need not pay for that time.Other "Breaks", such as for "rest periods" or "coffee breaks," are not required. If a break (of up to 20 minutes) is permitted, then it should be paid as working time.
Q: Must an employer pay employees for holidays, sick time and/or vacations?
A: Under the New York State Labor Law, payment for holidays, sick time or vacation -- i.e. payment for time not actually worked - is not required unless the employer has established a policy to grant such pay. When an employer does decide to create a benefit policy, that employer is free to impose any conditions they choose.
Fringe benefits may include reimbursement of expenses or tuition, health coverage, and payment for sick time, vacation, personal leave, and holidays.
Click Here To Download The Fair Labor Standards Act Reference Guide
Law Firm of Leadros
A. Vrionedes, Esq.
Attorney at Law
New York, New York
Serving New York clients in New York City, Manhattan,
Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Long Island, Queens,
Nassau, Westchester and other communities in New York.
|
Queens County
