Q: I was fired from my job 2 months ago and i believe i was discriminated against. What should I do?

A: New York is an employment-at-will state, meaning your employer does not have to have a reason to fire you. You can even be terminated for a bad or unfair reason.

Termination is wrongful only if it was based on your protected status (race, gender, religion, age, etc.), but it is your burden to prove that was the reason. It is not enough that you believe or feel that was the reason.

If, as you say, your employer terminated you because it believed lies told by your co-worker that you caused harm to another employee, that would be a non-discriminatory reason for your termination, making it difficult for you to bring an action against your employer for discrimination.

However, employment law is very fact specific. If you believe your employer acted illegally, you should speak to an experienced employment attorney in your area to discuss the details of your particular situation.

You can read more about the laws that protect employees at https://www.workingnowandthen.com/.

This response is not legal advice, but is general information only, based upon the information stated in the question and general legal principles. It is provided for general educational purposes of the public who may have similar questions, not for any specific individual or circumstance. It is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship. Legal issues depend on all the specific facts of a situation, which are not present here. If you would like to obtain specific legal advice about your issue, you must contact a local attorney who is licensed to practice law in your state.

A: Every plaintiff has to prove discrimination. That is done with a plausible theory of severe or pervasive discriminatory conduct. This sounds very lawyer-like; I know. But that's why you really need to retain an employment lawyer before filing charges or a complaint.

You can file charges with the EEOC within 300 days or a complaint with the NYS Division of Human Rights within a year of an adverse employment action (your firing). But if you do so just with the facts you provided in your post chances are pretty good that it will go no further than your filing. Retain an employment lawyer! Most employment lawyers will invest many hours helping you uncover the important facts and spend lots of time drafting your charge or complaint. The government agencies are very good but most are very overworked and understaffed. It's not likely that a government agency will be able to invest the hours and hours into your claim that an employment lawyer would need to invest. Of course an employment lawyer will need to hear discrimination, which can be proven, from you during a conference or what you might feel is an interview. Pretext is not always easy to show and if you are unfamiliar with that term it's probably time to retain an employment lawyer. THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE!