Manhattan Racial Discrimination Lawyers

This Isn’t Just About You. But It Starts With You.

Racial discrimination at work is still happening every day, in Manhattan boardrooms, in warehouses, in hospitals, in tech offices. And the people experiencing it are often told, directly or indirectly, to keep their heads down and let it go.

Don’t.

At Carey & Associates, P.C., we represent employees in Manhattan who have been discriminated against, harassed, or retaliated against because of their race. Attorney Mark Carey has spent nearly 30 years going up against employers who think they can get away with it, and he’s built theEmployee Survival Guide® podcast specifically to tell employees what their employers hope they never find out. This page is a good start.

What Racial Discrimination at Work Actually Looks Like

Federal and New York State law prohibit employers from making employment decisions based on race, in hiring, firing, pay, promotions, job assignments, discipline, and every other aspect of work. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the New York State Human Rights Law both apply, and New York’s law is often broader in who it covers and what it protects.

But knowing the law is the easy part. The harder part is recognizing what discrimination looks like when you’re living it. It almost never starts with a slur. More often, it looks like this:

• Being passed over for promotions while less-qualified colleagues of a different race advance
• Receiving harsher discipline than coworkers who committed the same infractions
• Being excluded from meetings, client relationships, or opportunities that build careers
• Facing a hostile work environment: comments, jokes, or conduct that targets your race
• Being assigned lower-visibility work that limits your path to advancement
• Getting pushed out through a performance improvement plan that appears out of nowhere

If your gut is telling you something is wrong, it deserves more than being dismissed. It deserves a real conversation with an attorney who will take it seriously.

The Retaliation Problem (And Why It Makes Things Worse)

Here’s something employers count on: that you’ll be too afraid of retaliation to say anything. And when employees do speak up (file an HR complaint, report discrimination to a manager, contact the EEOC) some employers double down.

That retaliation is also illegal. And in many cases, the retaliation itself becomes the strongest part of the legal claim.

Mark covered a real-world example of exactly this on the Employee Survival Guide®: the case of a former UPS driver who walked away with a staggering $39.6 million verdict after facing both racial discrimination and retaliation for speaking up. And in another episode, he broke down how the Society for Human Resource Management, an organization that literally exists to promote workplace fairness, was ordered to pay $11.6 million for racially discriminating against and retaliating against one of its own employees.

These aren’t outliers. They’re what happens when employees have the evidence, the documentation, and the right legal team.

What You Should Do If You’re Experiencing Racial Discrimination

Your actions in the early stages of a racial discrimination situation can make or break a future legal claim. Here’s what matters most:

• Document everything, now. Write down what happened, when, who was involved, and who witnessed it. Save emails, texts, performance reviews, and HR communications. Courts run on evidence, and your memory of specific details will fade faster than you think.
• Report it internally, but carefully. You generally need to report discrimination through your company’s internal channels before you can pursue an external claim. But how you do this matters. An attorney can help you navigate this without inadvertently weakening your position.
• Know your deadlines. Discrimination claims have strict filing windows: sometimes as short as 180 days from the discriminatory act to file with the EEOC. Waiting too long can eliminate your right to bring a claim entirely.
• Don’t sign anything under pressure. If your employer is pushing you toward a severance agreement or separation, stop. Get legal advice first.

Talk to Our Manhattan Racial Discrimination Lawyers Today

You have the right to work without being treated differently because of your race. If that right is being violated, you deserve an attorney who will be direct with you about what you’re dealing with and what you can do about it.

At Carey & Associates, P.C., we’ll give you a candid, confidential assessment of your situation and your options. Call us at (914) 547-0331 or reach out online to schedule your confidential consultation. We represent employees across Manhattan, New York City, and throughout New York State.