Urba Law Firm

New York employment law attorneys.

Employment discrimination emphasis including the Americans with Disabilities Act, race discrimination, hostile work environments, national origin discrimination, separation agreements, harassment, social security disability, unemployment appeals, wage and hour claims, wrongful discharge.Unemployment appeals hearings are a great place to gather evidence for potential wrongful termination or employment discrimination claims. Employers often believe that their policies, procedures, employee handbooks will validate termination actions. My experience has been the opposite. Employee handbooks are often inaccurate, incomplete, and circumvented by management. A great example is the industry which serves the elderly and troubled youth, considered vulnerable persons, which is monitored by the New York State Justice Center. Since 2013 these employers have struggled to revise employee handbooks, to train employees, and to keep up with regulations which mandate reporting abuse. Hearing evidence obtained at these proceedings can sometimes be used to pursue claims for employment discrimination.Wage and hour issues are not uncommon. Executives, professionals and administrative employees are exempt from overtime pay. However, for Fair Labor Standards Act purposes, administratively exempt employees must exercise discretion in their positions to be truly exempt from overtime pay. Employers often don't keep records for the hours worked by all employees and an improperly classified administrative employee can then prove the actual hours worked strictly according to their own credible testimony. Employee job titles can be misleading. They might convey authority and discretion that employees don't actually have. Reclassifying such employees to hourly workers can result in substantial damages, including prevailing party attorneys' fees; in favor of a successfully reclassified employee.Litigating federal, state, and NYC employment law issues and social security disabilities.