Where you are from should never be held against you.

Where you are from, where your parents are from, or the way you speak should never determine how you are treated at work. New York's workforce is one of the most diverse in the country, and federal, state, and city law are clear: it is illegal for an employer to hold your national origin, your ancestry, your accent, your name, or your association with a particular ethnic or immigrant community against you. Dudani Law represents employees, never employers, in holding companies accountable when they cross that line.

What our clients typically experience

The people we represent are often told their accent is hard to understand, that clients prefer someone else, or that they are not the right fit, but never that it is about where they are from. They feel singled out but cannot always name why. We help them see the pattern and hold the employer to account, regardless of immigration status.

What National Origin Discrimination Looks Like

National origin discrimination occurs when an employer treats you adversely because of where you, your family, or your ancestors come from. It can be open and explicit, or it can hide behind "fit" and "professionalism" buzzwords. Common examples include:

• Slurs, mocking imitations of your accent, or "jokes" about your home country, religion, or food
• Refusal to hire or promote because of a foreign-sounding name on a resume
• Requiring English-only on the job when your role does not call for it
• Customer or coworker harassment about your accent or appearance that supervisors tolerate
• Comments tying your work to stereotypes about your country, region, religion, or ethnicity
• Being told you are "too foreign," "hard to understand," or that clients "prefer" someone else
• Different rules, scheduling, or scrutiny applied to immigrant workers compared with U.S.-born coworkers
• Failure to provide a religious or cultural accommodation tied to your background

Types of National Origin Discrimination

National origin claims under federal, New York, and New Jersey law take several recognized forms:

• Ethnicity and ancestry discrimination
• Accent discrimination, where the accent does not interfere with the job
• Name-based discrimination in hiring and promotion
• Perceived national origin discrimination, based on assumptions about where you are from
• Associational discrimination, based on marriage or ties to a particular community
• Citizenship and immigration status discrimination
• Unlawful English-only rules and language restrictions
• Ethnic harassment and hostile work environment
• Disparate impact from facially neutral policies, such as fluency tests
• Retaliation for opposing or reporting the discrimination

Signs You May Have a Claim

• You hear comments about your accent, your name, or where you are from at work
• You were passed over for a promotion, client-facing role, or assignment in favor of someone with a more "American-sounding" name or accent
• You were singled out for an English-only policy or scheduling change others were not
• Coworkers from outside your national-origin group are treated better for the same conduct
• Your performance ratings dropped after you complained, requested an accommodation, or pushed back on an ethnic "joke"
• You were asked invasive or improper questions about your immigration status that have nothing to do with work eligibility

Where New York Law Goes Further

Federal Law: Title VII and the IRCA

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination based on national origin, including discrimination tied to ancestry, accent, ethnic background, marriage to or association with people of a particular national origin, or perceived national origin. Title VII applies to employers with 15 or more employees and is enforced by the EEOC. Separately, the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended by the Immigration Reform and Control Act, bars employers from discriminating on the basis of citizenship status against work-authorized individuals.

New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL)

The NYSHRL prohibits national origin discrimination by employers of every size, down to a single employee. Since the 2019 amendments, the law no longer requires harassment to be "severe or pervasive": conduct crosses the line once it rises above a petty slight or trivial inconvenience. Damages are uncapped and the statute of limitations is three years.

New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL)

The NYCHRL covers employers with four or more employees and is read more broadly than federal and state law. Citizenship status is an enumerated protected class under the NYCHRL, and an employee need only show they were treated less well than coworkers because of their national origin and that the treatment was more than trivial. Damages are uncapped and civil penalties of up to $250,000 are available for willful violations.

New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD)

The NJLAD prohibits discrimination based on national origin, nationality, ancestry, and creed, and it applies to virtually every New Jersey employer. Damages are uncapped, and the December 2025 disparate-impact regulations at N.J.A.C. 13:16 expressly extend to facially neutral practices, including AI hiring tools, that disproportionately disadvantage workers from particular national-origin groups.

Citizenship Status and Immigration

Federal law prohibits employers from discriminating against workers based on citizenship status, with some exceptions. The Immigration and Nationality Act bars employers from rejecting authorized non-citizen workers or treating them differently in hiring, firing, or terms of employment. The NYCHRL goes further and prohibits discrimination based on alienage and immigration status. An employer can verify work authorization through the I-9 process, but it should not interrogate you about your status or country of birth beyond that.

English-Only Policies and Language at Work

An employer cannot impose an English-only rule across the board just because it prefers the sound of English. Under EEOC guidance and New York law, an English-only policy must be tied to a real, demonstrable business necessity, and the employer must tell employees clearly when the rule applies and what the consequences are for breaking it. Blanket English-only rules that target the way employees speak among themselves on breaks, in the lunchroom, or while doing tasks that do not require English are vulnerable to a discrimination challenge.

Hostile Work Environment

National origin-based harassment, ethnic slurs, "jokes" about a nationality, and mocking accents or cultural practices can give rise to a hostile work environment claim. Under New York State law (after 2019) and the NYCHRL, the standard is whether conduct rises above a petty slight or trivial inconvenience, a lower bar than the federal "severe or pervasive" test.

Disparate Impact

Even neutral-seeming policies, like English-only rules, fluency tests, or grooming standards, can disproportionately harm workers of a particular national origin. Disparate impact claims allow workers to challenge these facially neutral rules when they have a discriminatory effect. New Jersey's 2025 codification of disparate impact under the NJLAD strengthens these claims.

What to Do If You Believe You Are Being Discriminated Against

• Document the comments. Note the date, what was said, who said it, and who else heard.
• Save the proof. Texts, emails, scheduling records, and any written policies. Forward to a personal account before access changes.
• Track comparators. Who got the assignment, promotion, or schedule you were denied?
• Be careful with citizenship questions. An employer can verify work authorization through I-9; it should not be interrogating you about your status or country of birth beyond that.
• Do not sign a severance before a lawyer reviews it.
• Talk to a lawyer early. Deadlines turn quickly.

How to Document

• Notes on a personal device with dates, exact words used, and witness names
• Emails, chat messages, voicemails, and any "jokes" forwarded around the office
• Job postings, descriptions, and any written language or accent requirements
• Performance reviews before and after you complained or requested an accommodation
• Schedules, assignment records, and any English-only memos or policies
• Comparator information about coworkers outside your national-origin group

Retaliation Is a Separate Violation

Retaliation against employees who oppose or report national origin discrimination, or who participate in an investigation, is independently illegal under Title VII, the NYSHRL, the NYCHRL, and the NJLAD. Termination, demotion, schedule changes, suddenly worse reviews, or transfer to a less desirable role following a complaint can support a retaliation claim on their own.

What You May Be Owed

• Back pay and front pay
• Reinstatement, promotion, or removal of an unlawful policy
• Compensatory damages including emotional distress (uncapped under the NYSHRL, NYCHRL, and NJLAD; capped under Title VII)
• Punitive damages (uncapped under the NYCHRL and NJLAD)
• Reasonable attorneys' fees and costs

Why Clients Choose Dudani Law

• We hear you. We work with immigrant and foreign-born clients with care, and our team is multilingual.
• We expose pretext. "Communication" and "fit" excuses often hide national-origin bias, and we build the comparator record that shows it.
• We use every law. Title VII, the IRCA, NYSHRL, NYCHRL, and NJLAD, whichever gives you the strongest claim.
• No fee unless we win. We handle national origin discrimination cases on a contingency basis.

Frequently Asked Questions

I am undocumented. Can I still sue?

Yes. Under New York and New Jersey law, immigration status does not strip you of the right to challenge workplace discrimination, harassment, or retaliation. Your attorney can advise on what information needs to be shared, when, and how to protect you through the process.

Can my employer require me to speak only English?

Only with clear business justification. A blanket English-only rule applied to all conversations, including breaks, is rarely lawful. The rule must be narrowly tailored and reasonably necessary, and the employer must tell employees when it applies.

My boss makes "jokes" about my accent. Is that enough?

It can be. Under the NYSHRL and NYCHRL, harassment about your accent or national origin is unlawful once it rises above a petty slight or trivial inconvenience. You do not have to wait until the conduct is daily or extreme.

Does national origin discrimination protect U.S. citizens too?

Yes. National origin protections cover anyone discriminated against because of their ancestry, ethnicity, or perceived national origin, regardless of citizenship status. A U.S. citizen of Latino, Asian, Middle Eastern, or any other descent who is discriminated against based on ethnicity is fully protected.

What if customers, not coworkers, are the ones harassing me?

You may still have a claim. An employer can be held responsible for harassment by customers, clients, or other third parties when it knew or should have known about the conduct and failed to take reasonable steps to stop it. If you reported customer harassment tied to your accent, language, or national origin and your employer did nothing, that failure to act can support a claim.