Quick Answer: How does employment law define a protected class?

A protected class in employment law is a group of people who share a characteristic that federal, state, or local law shields from workplace discrimination. Employers may not make hiring, firing, pay, promotion, or other job decisions based on a worker's membership in a protected class. In New York, protected classes include race, age, gender, disability, religion, national origin, and many additional categories under state and city law.

What I a Protected Class in Employment Law?

New York City workers have more protected class coverage than employees in almost any other city in the country. Most people know that federal law prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, and religion. 

Fewer realize that the New York City Human Rights Law recognizes over 20 protected categories in employment, including characteristics like caregiver status, credit history, and height and weight that have no federal equivalent.

A protected class is any group of workers who share a characteristic that the law protects from workplace discrimination. 

If your employer fired you, denied a promotion, cut your pay, or treated you differently at work because of one of those characteristics, that conduct may violate federal, state, or city employment law.

Key Takeaways About Protected Classes in Employment Law

• A protected class is a group of people sharing a characteristic that employment law shields from discrimination, such as race, sex, age, disability, religion, and national origin.
• Federal law sets a baseline, but New York State and New York City law both add significant protected categories that many workers do not know about.
• The NYC Human Rights Law covers more categories than almost any other local law in the country, including caregiver status, unemployment status, credit history, and height and weight.
• Discrimination based on a protected class may involve any aspect of employment, from hiring and firing to pay, promotions, and daily working conditions.
• A single act of workplace discrimination in New York may violate federal, state, and city law at the same time, giving workers multiple paths to pursue a claim.

What Protected Classes Does Federal Employment Law Cover?

Federal employment law recognizes several protected classes through statutes that each address specific characteristics.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the broadest, prohibiting workplace discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin at employers with 15 or more employees.

Federal statutes and who they cover

Other federal laws extend protection to additional groups of workers. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) covers workers 40 and older at employers with 20 or more employees. 

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits disability discrimination at employers with 15 or more employees. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) bars employers from using genetic information in employment decisions.

The protected classes recognized under federal employment law include:

• Race, color, national origin, religion, and sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and transgender status) under Title VII
• Age (40 and older) under the ADEA
• Disability under the ADA
• Genetic information under GINA
• Sex-based pay differences under the Equal Pay Act

Each statute carries its own employer-size threshold and its own filing procedures. A worker who experiences discrimination based on one of these characteristics may file a charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as a first step toward a legal claim.

How Does New York State Expand Protected Class Coverage?

The New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL), codified in Article 15 of the Executive Law, protects workers from discrimination and harassment based on a broader range of characteristics than federal law.

Unlike most federal employment discrimination laws, the NYSHRL generally applies to employers of all sizes. 

As a result, workers may have a claim under state law even when their employer is too small to be covered by a comparable federal statute. Whether the law applies still depends on the facts and the specific type of claim.

Where state law goes further than federal law

The NYSHRL adds several categories with no federal equivalent. It also broadens existing categories. 

For example, the NYSHRL protects workers age 18 and older from age discrimination, while the federal ADEA only protects workers 40 and older.

Protected classes recognized under the NYSHRL beyond the federal baseline include:

• Military status
• Marital status
• Sexual orientation and gender identity or expression
• Predisposing genetic characteristics
• Familial status, including pregnancy discrimination
• Domestic violence victim status
• Citizenship or immigration status
• Prior arrest or conviction record

Workers in New York State may file a complaint with the New York State Division of Human Rights or go directly to state court without first filing with any agency. 

The NYSHRL's broader scope means that workers who do not meet a federal statute's employer-size threshold or age requirements may still hold a valid state-level claim.

What Additional Protections Does New York City Employment Law Provide?

The New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) provides more employment protections than almost any other local law in the United States. 

The NYCHRL generally applies to New York City employers with four or more workers and protects many of the same characteristics covered by federal and state law, along with several additional categories unique to city law.

Protected characteristics specific to NYC

New York City extends protected class status to characteristics that state and federal law do not cover. Workers in the five boroughs receive additional protection from discrimination based on:

• Caregiver status, meaning whether a worker cares for a child, parent, spouse, or other dependent
• Credit history
• Height and weight
• Unemployment status
• Sexual and reproductive health decisions
• Status as a victim of stalking or sex offenses

The NYCHRL also protects age without the limitations found in federal or state law. 

While the ADEA only covers workers 40 and older, and the NYSHRL covers workers 18 and older, the NYCHRL prohibits age discrimination regardless of the worker's age, subject to limited statutory exceptions.

Prohibited employment practices under NYC law

Beyond traditional protected class characteristics, the NYCHRL also prohibits specific employer practices that do not fit neatly into the protected class framework. 

For example, NYC employers may not ask about or rely on a job applicant's salary history during the hiring process. 

While salary history inquiries are prohibited, this is more accurately described as a banned employment practice rather than a protected personal characteristic like race or disability.

NYC courts interpret the NYCHRL more favorably toward employees than federal courts interpret Title VII. 

Where federal law requires harassment to be severe or pervasive, the NYCHRL uses a lower threshold, asking only whether the employer's conduct treated the worker less well because of a protected characteristic.

How protections compare across all three levels of law

The chart below shows which characteristics receive protection at each level of law that applies to New York City employees.

A worker in New York City may hold viable claims under one, two, or all three levels of law depending on the facts. That layering gives NYC employees a wider foundation for a discrimination claim than workers in most other parts of the country.

What Does Protected Class Discrimination Look Like at Work?

Protected class discrimination in the workplace takes many forms and does not always involve an obvious act of bias. Discrimination may affect hiring, firing, pay, promotions, job assignments, training, and daily working conditions.

Direct and indirect patterns

Some acts of discrimination are direct, such as firing a worker shortly after learning about a pregnancy or refusing to promote someone because of their race. 

Other patterns build over time and involve repeated conduct that singles out workers based on a shared protected characteristic.

Workplace conduct that may support a discrimination claim includes:

• Passing over a qualified worker for promotion while advancing less-qualified employees of a different race, gender, or age
• Denying reasonable accommodations for a disability, pregnancy, or religious practice
• Paying workers differently for the same role based on gender, national origin, or another protected characteristic
• Subjecting an employee to repeated derogatory comments, jokes, or slurs targeting a protected trait
• Retaliating against a worker who reported discriminatory treatment to HR or a government agency

The legal question in most discrimination cases is whether the employer's conduct connects to the worker's membership in a protected class. If similar behavior targets workers who share a protected characteristic while leaving others unaffected, that pattern may support a legal claim.

How Do You File a Protected Class Discrimination Claim in New York?

New York employees who experience discrimination based on a protected class have several filing options. The right path depends on which statute applies, the size of the employer, and the type of discrimination involved.

Federal claims through the EEOC

For claims under Title VII, the ADEA, the ADA, or GINA, workers generally must file a charge with the EEOC before filing a lawsuit. 

In New York, the EEOC filing deadline is typically 300 days from the discriminatory act because the state has a cross-filing agreement.

State and city filing paths

Under the NYSHRL, workers may file a complaint with the New York State Division of Human Rights or go directly to state court without filing with any agency first. 

Under the NYCHRL, workers may file with the NYC Commission on Human Rights within one year of the last discriminatory act, or within three years for gender-based harassment. 

Filing directly in state court under the NYCHRL allows a three-year window.

Many discrimination cases in New York qualify under multiple statutes at the same time. An employment attorney reviews the full picture and identifies the strongest combination of claims based on the facts.

FAQs for Protected Classes in Employment Law

Does everyone belong to a protected class?

Yes, in a broad sense, everyone possesses protected characteristics like race, sex, age, and national origin. Protected class laws protect all workers equally from discrimination based on those traits. 

However, the scope varies by statute. The federal ADEA only covers workers 40 and older, while the NYSHRL starts at 18 and the NYCHRL applies regardless of age.

Is being a parent a protected class in New York?

Yes, in some circumstances. New York State law prohibits discrimination based on familial status, and New York City law protects certain caregivers. 

Employers generally may not make job decisions because an employee has a protected parental or caregiving status, though they are not required to accommodate every parenting responsibility.

Does my employer have to know about my protected class for discrimination to be illegal?

Generally yes. The employer needs to have known or perceived your membership in a protected class. However, discrimination based on a mistaken perception is also illegal. 

If your employer believed you had a disability or belonged to a certain religion, that perception may support a claim even if it was wrong.

Is political affiliation a protected class in New York?

Not directly in the workplace. New York Labor Law Section 201-d protects workers from discrimination based on lawful political activities conducted outside of work hours and off the employer's premises. 

The NYCHRL and NYSHRL do not list political affiliation as a standalone protected class.

What happens if my employer retaliates after I report protected class discrimination?

Retaliation for reporting discrimination is itself illegal under Title VII, the NYSHRL, and the NYCHRL. Retaliation protection is a related but distinct legal concept from protected class status. 

If your employer punished you for filing a complaint or participating in an investigation, that conduct may give rise to a separate claim.

Find Out If Your Situation Involves Protected Class Discrimination

The question behind most calls to an employment lawyer is straightforward: does what happened to me actually count? 

The answer depends on whether your employer's conduct targeted you because of a protected characteristic and whether the facts support a claim under federal, state, or city law.

At Mizrahi Kroub LLP, our attorneys review the facts of your situation and tell you where you stand. We evaluate which protected classes, statutes, and filing options may apply to your situation.

We handle many discrimination cases on a contingency basis, meaning you pay nothing unless we obtain a recovery for you.

You do not need to have the legal terminology figured out before picking up the phone. Just tell us what happened. Reach out to Mizrahi Kroub LLP at (212) 595-6200.