By Jack Tuckner, Esq.
If you are a sex worker in New York City, meaning you are dancing, topless dancing, stripping, any type of labor paid for by management, for your lawful work, it is illegal for that management, your job, your employer, to treat you differently, to subject you to a severely hostile work environment, if they are doing so based on certain characteristics about you – like your race and color.
So for instance, if you are a Latina, or a woman of color, and you are not being accorded the same work preferences and opportunities as Caucasian women, that’s illegal. If you are a stripper, or dancer, or sex worker, and you are being overly sexualized, disrespected, subjected to unwelcome sexual attention, abuse or harassment in the workplace, that’s illegal. And if you wanna push back–if you want to put up with it because you feel that’s the cost of doing business–or you’re making a lot of money, and you just know that that’s the way it goes, fine. But if you don’t, if you’re fed up, if it’s too much, if you want to push back, it is illegal and you can fight back, you need to oppose the discrimination, you need to complain about it formally, put it in writing, and if your employer doesn’t rectify it, investigate it then rectify it. If they treat you worse as a result of your complaint, that’s illegal retaliation. If you want some support with your particular situation, give us a call in our office. My name is Jack Tuckner. I will be happy to consult with you, no charge, to talk about your particular workplace challenges.