Brooklyn Race Discrimination Lawyer

Race discrimination in the workplace does not always look like a slur written on a break room wall or a manager announcing that promotions only go to certain people. More often, it shows up in patterns: the repeated denial of training opportunities, the sudden negative performance reviews that appear only after a complaint, the quiet exclusion from meetings where decisions get made. Brooklyn workers face these situations across every industry, from healthcare and finance in Downtown and DUMBO to hospitality, construction, and logistics in neighborhoods like Sunset Park, Brownsville, and East New York. The consequences reach far beyond hurt feelings. A race discrimination case can involve lost wages, career derailment, emotional distress, and long-term financial harm that touches everything from retirement savings to housing stability.

Working with a Brooklyn race discrimination lawyer is not about finding someone to file paperwork. It is about having someone who understands how discrimination cases are actually built, what evidence exists and where it lives, how employers respond when a claim is filed, and what a realistic outcome looks like given the facts of your specific situation. The attorneys at Mark David Shirian P.C. represent workers across Brooklyn and New York City in employment discrimination matters, working to hold employers accountable when race becomes a factor in how someone is treated at work.

Federal law under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits race discrimination in employment. New York State’s Human Rights Law adds additional protections, and the New York City Human Rights Law is among the broadest anti-discrimination statutes in the country, often covering workplaces with fewer employees and applying more expansive definitions of what qualifies as discriminatory conduct. Brooklyn workers have multiple legal frameworks available to them, and understanding which path offers the most protection for your specific situation requires a close look at what actually happened and how the employer responds.

How Mark David Shirian P.C. Approaches Race Discrimination Cases in Brooklyn

Mark David Shirian P.C. was founded in 2016 with a straightforward goal: to help people who have been wronged. Employment law, including workplace discrimination, sits at the core of what this firm does. Attorney Mark D. Shirian and Senior Associate Shawn D. Shirian handle cases where something genuinely unfair happened to someone and that person deserves to have it taken seriously by their legal team. Clients have described the firm’s approach as compassionate but hard-fighting, noting that Attorney Shirian pays close attention to details that matter and keeps clients informed throughout the process.

With millions recovered on behalf of clients and a track record built across New York City employment and injury litigation, this firm brings the kind of focused attention to each case that a large volume practice cannot replicate. For a race discrimination case, that means sitting down with you, learning the full arc of what happened, and developing a legal strategy that reflects the specific facts rather than a generic playbook. Discrimination claims live or die on details: the timing of an adverse action, the documented treatment of similarly situated employees, the paper trail an employer creates or tries to erase. The firm’s stated approach of being assertive, dependable, creative, and honest reflects exactly the qualities this type of case demands.

Types of Race Discrimination Brooklyn Workers Commonly Encounter

• Disparate Treatment: When an employee is treated less favorably than colleagues of a different race in equivalent roles or circumstances, such as being passed over for promotion despite stronger qualifications or being held to stricter attendance standards than others.
• Hostile Work Environment: A pattern of race-based harassment, slurs, offensive imagery, or repeated demeaning conduct that is severe or pervasive enough to alter the conditions of employment, covered under both federal and New York City law.
• Discriminatory Discipline and Termination: When disciplinary actions, performance improvement plans, or terminations are applied selectively based on race rather than actual job performance, which often becomes visible only when comparing how other employees were treated in similar situations.
• Wage and Compensation Discrimination: Paying employees differently for the same or substantially similar work based on race, which can be difficult to uncover without access to pay records but is a recognized form of discrimination under applicable law.
• Failure to Hire or Promote: Decisions made during recruitment or advancement that systematically exclude candidates of certain races, including cases where facially neutral criteria are applied in ways that produce racially discriminatory results.
• Retaliation for Raising Complaints: Adverse employment actions taken against a worker because they reported race discrimination, filed a complaint with HR, or cooperated with an investigation. Retaliation claims often arise alongside the underlying discrimination claim and can be independently actionable.
• Intersectional Discrimination: Discrimination that occurs at the intersection of race and another protected characteristic, such as race and gender or race and national origin, which Brooklyn’s diverse workforce encounters with regularity given the borough’s demographics.

What Brooklyn Workers Should Do After Experiencing Race Discrimination

Timing matters more than most people realize. Under federal law, you typically have 300 days from the discriminatory act to file a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) if you plan to pursue a federal Title VII claim. Under the New York City Human Rights Law, you have three years to file a complaint with the New York City Commission on Human Rights or to pursue a civil lawsuit directly in court. These deadlines run from the date of each discriminatory act, so waiting to see if things improve before taking action can close off options that would otherwise be available to you.

Start by documenting what happened as completely as possible. Write down dates, times, names, what was said or done, and who witnessed it. Save any relevant emails, text messages, performance reviews, or other communications, because employers sometimes restrict access to internal systems after a complaint is filed. If you reported the discrimination to HR or a supervisor, note when you did and what response you received. A Brooklyn race discrimination attorney will want to see all of this because the strength of your case depends substantially on the evidence that already exists in contemporaneous records rather than recollections assembled months later.

If you are still employed, think carefully before taking any major step at work without speaking to an attorney first. Resigning in response to discriminatory conditions can sometimes support a constructive discharge claim, but it can also create complications depending on how it is framed and documented. If you have been terminated, do not sign a severance agreement that includes a release of claims without having it reviewed, because those agreements often contain language that would eliminate your right to bring a discrimination lawsuit.

The EEOC’s New York District Office handles federal charges for workers in Brooklyn, and the New York City Commission on Human Rights accepts complaints covering city law violations. The New York State Division of Human Rights handles state-level complaints. Each agency has different procedures, timelines, and potential outcomes. An attorney can help you evaluate whether to file with an agency first, go directly to court, or pursue parallel tracks, depending on what you are trying to achieve and what the facts of your case support.

How Race Discrimination Cases Actually Get Resolved

Most race discrimination cases do not go to trial. They resolve through EEOC mediation, settlement negotiations, or administrative findings before a case ever reaches a courtroom. That does not mean an employer takes you seriously from the moment a complaint is filed; in many cases the opposite is true. Employers typically respond to discrimination charges through their HR department or outside legal counsel, and their initial position is almost always denial. What changes the dynamic is the quality of evidence your attorney can demonstrate exists, the legal theories available under New York City’s expansive human rights law, and the credibility of the narrative that gets built around what actually happened.

In New York City, workers who prevail on race discrimination claims may be entitled to back pay for lost wages, front pay if reinstatement is not appropriate, compensatory damages for emotional distress, and in some cases punitive damages when the employer’s conduct was especially egregious. Under the New York City Human Rights Law, attorneys’ fees may also be available. The range of potential outcomes is wide, which is why the specific facts and the legal strategy applied to them matter so much from the earliest stages of a case.

Some cases do go to trial, and the courts that would hear a New York City Human Rights Law case filed in Brooklyn include New York Supreme Court, Kings County, located on Adams Street in Downtown Brooklyn. Federal discrimination claims would be filed in the Eastern District of New York, whose courthouse is also located in Downtown Brooklyn on Cadman Plaza East. Knowing which forum offers the most favorable conditions for your specific claim is part of the strategic analysis your attorney should conduct early in the process.

Questions Brooklyn Workers Ask About Race Discrimination Claims

What counts as race discrimination under New York City law?

The New York City Human Rights Law defines discrimination broadly. It covers adverse employment actions based on race, including hiring, firing, compensation, job assignments, discipline, and terms and conditions of employment. It also covers harassment that creates a hostile work environment. The NYC law is intentionally interpreted more broadly than federal law, meaning some conduct that might not qualify under Title VII can still support a claim under city law.

Do I have to prove my employer intended to discriminate against me?

Not necessarily. Some claims, particularly disparate impact claims, can be proven by showing that an employer’s neutral policy has a disproportionate adverse effect on employees of a particular race, without requiring direct evidence of intent. In disparate treatment cases, intent is at issue, but it can be inferred from circumstantial evidence like the timing of decisions, inconsistent application of policies, or statements made by supervisors.

Can I file a race discrimination claim if I am still employed and have not been fired?

Yes. Termination is not a requirement. Race discrimination claims can arise from demotions, pay cuts, denial of promotions, hostile work environment conditions, or any materially adverse change in the terms or conditions of employment. Being forced to endure a hostile work environment without relief can itself form the basis of a claim.

What if my employer says they had a legitimate reason for the decision?

Employers almost always offer a nondiscriminatory explanation when a discrimination claim is raised. The legal question then becomes whether that stated reason is a genuine explanation or a pretext masking the real discriminatory motivation. Evidence showing that the reason was applied inconsistently, was fabricated after the fact, or does not hold up when compared to how similarly situated employees of other races were treated can all support a finding of pretext.

How long does a race discrimination case typically take?

The timeline varies considerably. An EEOC charge can take a year or more to be processed. If a case proceeds to litigation in federal or state court, it may take two to three years to reach resolution through trial, though most cases settle before that point. Cases resolved through negotiation or EEOC mediation can sometimes conclude more quickly. Your attorney should give you a realistic timeline based on the path being pursued in your specific case.

Can I be fired for filing a race discrimination complaint?

Retaliating against an employee for filing a discrimination complaint, cooperating with an investigation, or opposing discriminatory practices is independently illegal under federal, state, and city law. If you are terminated, demoted, or subjected to other adverse actions shortly after filing a complaint, that timeline itself can be important evidence of retaliatory intent. Retaliation claims can be brought alongside the underlying discrimination claim or independently.

Does the size of my employer affect whether I can file a claim?

Federal law applies to employers with 15 or more employees. The New York State Human Rights Law applies to employers with four or more employees. The New York City Human Rights Law applies to employers with four or more employees in most circumstances. For very small employers in New York City, there may still be coverage under city law provisions that address individual employees and supervisors, which is one reason why the city framework is often the most useful starting point for Brooklyn workers.

What if the discrimination was committed by a coworker, not a manager?

Employer liability for coworker harassment depends on whether the employer knew or should have known about the conduct and failed to take appropriate corrective action. If you reported the harassment to HR or management and the employer did not respond adequately, the employer may be liable. The standards for supervisor conduct differ from coworker conduct under both federal and city law, and an attorney can help you evaluate where your situation falls.

Can I sue a specific individual supervisor or manager for race discrimination in New York?

Under the New York City Human Rights Law, individual supervisors and managers can sometimes be held personally liable for discriminatory conduct, particularly when they have authority over employment decisions or directly participated in the discriminatory acts. This is one of the ways the city law goes further than federal law, which generally limits liability to the employer as an entity rather than individual employees.

What if I signed an arbitration agreement when I was hired?

Many employers require employees to sign agreements that mandate arbitration of employment disputes. The enforceability of these agreements for race discrimination claims has evolved, and there are circumstances under which arbitration clauses may not bar a court action. This is a fact-specific question that requires review of the actual agreement and the circumstances under which it was signed. Do not assume an arbitration agreement eliminates your options without having an attorney look at it.

Race Discrimination Representation Across Brooklyn and New York City

Mark David Shirian P.C. represents clients facing workplace race discrimination throughout Brooklyn and the broader New York City area. In Brooklyn, the firm serves workers from Crown Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Flatbush, Canarsie, Borough Park, Bay Ridge, Red Hook, Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Carroll Gardens, Park Slope, Flatlands, Sheepshead Bay, Bensonhurst, and East Flatbush, as well as workers commuting into Brooklyn from Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx. The firm also represents clients across Manhattan, including Midtown, Harlem, the Financial District, and Washington Heights, where many Brooklyn residents work. Workers in Long Island City, Flushing, Jamaica, and the Bronx neighborhoods of Mott Haven and Tremont are also within the firm’s service area. Across New York State, the firm handles cases from clients who have experienced race discrimination at employers operating in any of these communities, including remote workers whose employment relationship is governed by New York law regardless of where the employer is physically located.

Talk to a Brooklyn Race Discrimination Attorney About Your Situation

What happened to you at work matters, and so does what you do next. A Brooklyn race discrimination attorney at Mark David Shirian P.C. can sit down with you, review the facts of your situation, and tell you honestly what options exist and what pursuing them would look like in practice. The firm offers confidential case evaluations for potential clients, so you can understand your position before committing to any course of action. Do not assume that because the discrimination was subtle, or because you were not fired, or because you think you cannot prove it, that there is nothing to pursue. These cases are often more viable than people initially believe when the full picture comes into focus. Reach out to Mark David Shirian P.C. to schedule your evaluation and start getting clear answers.