Employers in New York City must now accommodate a pregnant woman that requires minor job modifications to continue doing her job during her pregnancy. As reported in The New York Times, the New York City Council passed the Pregnancy Fairness Act because, although employers cannot discriminate against a women for becoming pregnant or refuse to hire a pregnant women, they are not required to accommodate them with any minor job modifications so that they can keep working during their pregnancy.

Federal and New York State laws protect against pregnancy discrimination. Pregnancy discrimination takes many forms, including

• Denying maternity leave
• Forcing a pregnant employee to take unpaid leave
• Treating an employee unequally because she is pregnant, may become pregnant, or has a medical condition related to her pregnancy or childbirth
• Demoting or firing an employee because of her pregnancy
• Forcing a pregnant employee to work in an unsafe environment
• Failing to hire or promote an employee because of her pregnancy
• Failing to provide a private space for breast-feeding

If you are pregnant, your employer must permit you to work as long as you are able to perform your job. If you are absent from work as a result of a pregnancy-related condition, your employer may not demand that you stay out of work until the baby is born. Additionally, your employer may not have a rule that prohibits an employee from returning to work for a predetermined length of time after childbirth. If you have a pregnancy-related absence from work, your employer is required to hold open your job for the same length of time that jobs are held open for employees on sick or disability leave.

If you believe that you have been a victim of pregnancy discrimination at work, you should consult an attorney and protect your rights.

watch full xXx: Return of Xander Cage movie online

In a sex discrimination lawsuit bought on behalf of women employees at Merrill Lynch, which is now owned by Bank of America, the bank has agreed to settle the suite for $39 million. As reported in Bloomberg, the suite alleges that Merrill Lynch discriminated against women in their respective positions in terms of compensation and business opportunities as compared to their male counterparts. It was also reported that in addition to the monetary settlement, Merrill Lynch would also be required to implement changes to its practices, which would be overseen by an independent monitor.

Sex or gender discrimination occurs whenever an employee or prospective employee is subject to different treatment due to their gender. An employer cannot stereotype you based on your gender or sex. Employers are required to treat men and women the same in all phases of the employment process regarding:

• Policies and practices
• Hiring
• Compensation
• Job training
• Layoffs
• Promotions
• Working conditions
• Benefits
• Other privileges

Often the terms “sex” and “gender” are interchangeable. However, sex discrimination refers to discrimination based on an individual’s biological identity as male or female while gender discrimination refers to discrimination based on characteristics of an individual that are culturally associated with masculinity or femininity. Gender discrimination is one of the oldest and most prevalent forms of workplace discrimination.

It is often subtle, but its impact is very serious. If you believe that you are being discriminated against at work because of your sex or gender, consult an attorney and protect your rights.

Streaming and download Deepwater Horizon (2016)

Recent stories in the news have described the campaign to stop employers from violating the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by classifying people as interns while having them do the work of regular employees without compensation. The campaign may be having some effect as a class action lawsuit has been filed in federal court in New York against Donna Karan International regarding company interns who are performing non-intern related work without  receiving the minimum wage. As reported in The Huffington Post, one plaintiff, who was an under grad, claims that he was told that interning for the company would be great learning experience; instead, he retrieved coffee, answered phones, entered data, and put clothes away.

Pursuant to the FLSA and as stated by the United States Department of Labor, for an employer to classify a position as an internship, the intern program must meet the following criteria:

1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment.
2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern.
3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff.
4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion, its operations may actually be impeded.
5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship.
6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.

Additional violations that may break federal and New York State overtime regulations include

• Misclassification of job position as exempt from overtime
• Failure to pay due to lack of permission to work overtime
• Averaging hours over two work weeks
• Failure to pay for at-home work, on-call time, or short daytime breaks
• Comp time instead of overtime pay
• Off-the-clock work

Both the FLSA and New York law have set the minimum wage at $7.25 per hour since 2009. Under New York and Federal minimum wage regulations, certain occupations and employees, such as food service employees, are paid a different minimum wage because the employees’ total compensation includes tips. If you believe that your employer is violating your right to receive minimum wage or overtime compensation, you consult an attorney and protect your rights.

The Supreme Court of New Mexico has upheld a lower court ruling that a photography company engaged in unlawful discrimination when it refused to photograph a same-sex wedding. As reported in The New York Times, the court found that under the New Mexico Constitution’s Human Rights Act, which states that someone may not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, the company’s actions were the same as it refusing to photograph “a wedding between people of different races.”

Federal law does not currently prohibit sexual orientation discrimination. However, New York State Human Rights Law and New York City Human Rights Law protect individuals from being discriminated against on the basis of their “actual or perceived” sexual orientation.

Unfortunately, many gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees fail to recognize that in New York they are entitled to a workplace free of discrimination and harassment. It is important to remember that it is not relevant whether your employer’s perception of your sexual orientation is correct. If your employer believes or perceives you as having a certain sexual orientation, and treats you differently or discriminates against you because of it, then your employer may be violating the law.

Examples of sexual orientation discrimination include:

• If your boss fires you because he believes you are gay, lesbian, bisexual or straight, it is illegal (it does not matter whether or not you are actually gay, lesbian, bisexual or straight).
• An employer denies benefits to your same-sex partner when your employer’s health insurance plan covers benefits for spouses and families of married heterosexual employees.
• Your employer denies benefits to your same-sex partner when your employer’s health insurance plan covers benefits for spouses and families of married heterosexual employees.
• Based on your sexual orientation, your employer denies you benefits or rewards, or you suffer harsher treatment from management.

If you believe that you are being discriminated against at work because of your sexual orientation, you should be aware that laws exist to protect you from unlawful sexual and gender discrimination. Contact a lawyer and protect your rights.

Last month a federal judge ruled that a discrimination case filed against Morgan Stanley, on behalf of African Americans under the Fair Housing Act could proceed. As reported by the ACLU, which is bringing the suit with other organizations, it alleges that Morgan Stanley pressured lenders to offer high-risk mortgage loans to African-American borrowers who are not properly informed about the risks and may not be able to afford them. This is the first lawsuit where a plaintiff has gone beyond suing the subprime lender and targeted the investment bank for its conduct. In ruling that the case may proceed, the judge stated that the Fair Housing Act governed Morgan Stanley’s conduct as a “loan purchaser and mortgage securitizer.” Accordingly, the law prohibits Morgan Stanley from illegally discriminating in selecting which real-estate related transactions are available as well as discriminating ‘in the terms or conditions of such a transaction.” If successful, this case could be the impetus for many future cases against investment banks for their roles in the process of offering high-risk loans to minorities.

Housing discrimination is illegal when it comes to protected classes, such as race, national origin, religion, disability, family status, sex (including sexual harassment), sexual orientation, marital status, age or source of income. If you believe you have been the victim of housing discrimination, you should contact an attorney and protect your rights.