Author Archives: Colleen M. Meenan

Despite his attorney’s unjustified protestations, Harvey Weinstein was recently sentenced to 23 years in prison for the rape of one woman and the sexual assault of another. As one of many powerful men whose conduct motivated the irrepressible #MeToo, Weinstein’s sentencing confirms the movement’s efficacy in forcing accountability. Finally, predators with deep pockets who forContinue reading “Justice Delayed Is Not Denied”

Effective May 10, 2020, it will be an unlawful discriminatory practice in New York City for most employers to conduct pre-employment testing for marijuana and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), an active ingredient in marijuana.  The law applies to both public and private employers in NYC, including companies whose headquarters are elsewhere, labor organizations and employment agencies. TheContinue reading “Smoking Up In New York City”

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has expressed that coded references to age, such as “college student,” “recent college graduate” or “young blood,” can violate the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of age against employees and job applicants age 40 and over.  NYC and NYSContinue reading “Code Words for Age Discrimination”

A prominent New York newspaper recently headlined that Dr. Philip Ozuah, the current CEO of the Montefiore Health System, a not-for-profit hospital organization serving some of the poorest communities in the country, was paid over $13 million dollars in 2018; that year he earned $2.8 million in salary, a bonus of $1.6 million and aContinue reading “When Nurses Need Pay Parity Who Is Helping?”

A 2018 report, prepared by Victoria A. Lipnic then Acting Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, highlighted the agency’s view that protecting the rights of older workers is more important than ever before given the number of older workers in the work force, the prevalence of age discrimination and the harm that suchContinue reading “More Protections Needed to Address The Problem of Age Discrimination”

On August 20, 2019, New York State amended its Human Right Law to enhance protections for workers who are survivors of domestic violence. (The law refers to “victims of domestic violence.”) The new law went into effect in NY on November 18, 2019. The new law now makes it unlawful discrimination for employers to refuseContinue reading “NYS Enhances Protections for Workers Who Are Domestic Violence Survivors”

On January 11, 2020, legislation went into effect to extend New York City’s protections against discrimination, harassment and retaliation to independent contractors and freelance workers. In 2014, the New York City Humans Rights Law (NYCHRL) had been expanded to include protections for interns. Under the recent expansion, freelancers and independent contractors whose rights are violatedContinue reading “NYC Extends Human Rights Protections to Freelancers & Independent Contractors”

There have been several recent changes to New York State law to increase protections for workers’ rights, including changes scheduled to take effect later in 2020. This post summarizes and highlights these important legislative changes. As of October 11, 2019, several changes were made to the New York State Human Rights Law to make itContinue reading “Recent & Upcoming NY Laws Protecting Workers’ Rights”