PRACTICE
AREAS
DISCRIMINATION
Connecticut employers may not discriminate against an employee on the basis of race, gender (including gender identity and gender expression), age, disability, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, or other protected categories. But employment discrimination laws are complicated, with restrictive jurisdictional requirements, filing deadlines. If you work or live in Connecticut and believe you have been discriminated against at work, we can explain your options, the relevant legal requirements, and help you determine your best course—whether to leave your job, submit an internal complaint, or initiate formal legal action, to name just a few. No matter the path, we will provide expert counsel and fight to ensure your individual rights are being fully protected.
SEXUAL HARRASSMENT
Sexual harassment can occur in many forms, from inappropriate touching and requests for sexual favors, to crude and offensive jokes and comments. A harasser could be a supervisor, a co-worker or non-employee, and people of any gender can be sexual harassment victims. If you have suffered sexual harassment, we can help you take appropriate actions, ranging from seeking relief informally through your employer, to obtaining a harassment prevention order, to initiating formal legal action.
SEVERANCE / EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENTS
Employment agreements, such as severance agreements, waivers or releases of rights, contracts of employment, non-competition agreements, non-solicitation agreements, etc., can be extremely complex, technical and difficult to decipher, as well as overwhelming and daunting given their potential impact on your current and future rights. We will review your agreement, explain to you in understandable terms the pertinent provisions, ensure that your rights are being protected, and advise you on your best options moving forward. In some situations where separation from employment is the most appropriate outcome, we can negotiate with your employer. or with your employer's attorney, seeking to maximize your severance benefits.
OVERTIME & WAGE ISSUES
Most employees are "non-exempt" from overtime premiums, meaning they are legally entitled to overtime pay (1.5 times the regular pay rate) when they work more than 40 hours in a week. If your employer has failed to pay you the time you are owed, the employer may owe you liquidated damages, typically twice the unpaid wages. Indeed, employers often improperly classify certain employees as "exempt" from overtime premiums, cheating those employees from earned compensation. Other "wage and hour" violations can include failing to pay at least minimum wages, dipping into employees' tips, shaving time off of time records, or failing to compensate employees for time spent on necessary work tasks, such as logging in to a computer, setting up a work station, or putting on and taking off required work equipment.
RETALIATION
Employers are prohibited from discriminating against employees for taking actions to protect their rights. Thus, if you complain about discrimination or about some other unlawful activity, your employer may not take any adverse action against you as a result. Likewise, your employer cannot take action against you for taking a protected leave of absence, filing a worker's compensation claim, or seeking any other protected rights or benefits. Finally, an employer cannot take action against you for reporting, or "whistleblowing," on unlawful activities, such as fraud, securities violations, environmental or health hazards, or other violations of law.
REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS / LEAVES OF ABSENCE
If you have a physical or mental disability that substantially limits a major life activity, i.e., walking, working, etc., or if your employer regards you as being disabled, you may be entitled to a reasonable accommodation in your workplace. If your employer fails to provide you a reasonable accommodation, or fails to meet and discuss with you your particular accommodation needs, your employer may be in violation of the American With Disabilities Act and/or the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act. Similarly, if you or a close family member, i.e., your spouse, child or parent, has a serious health problem that requires you to miss work, Connecticut and Federal laws may provide with you with certain job protections.
LGBTQIA+ EQUALITY
Connecticut laws protect gay, lesbian, transgender, questioning, and other classifications of gender orientation, identity or expression from disparate treatment at work. This could include adverse employment decisions, harassment, bullying, or other unlawful actions in (or sometime outside) the workplace. However, the application of non-discrimination laws to LGBTQ statuses changes frequently and recently has come under targeted political attack. Andrew is an active member of GLAD and PFLAG, and as a parent of a transgender son, Andrew is personally committed to equality and fairness to the LGBTQIA+ community. August, being queer and transgender himself, is deeply committed to protecting the rights of his community; he worked extensively in LGBTQIA+ law during law school, where he was also his school’s first openly transgender Student Bar Association President and founded the first transgender law student group in the country (and possibly the world).
