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Our Office

  • Westport Office

    Address

    155 Post Road East
    Suite 11
    Westport, Connecticut 06880

    Phone

    203-226-9922

Choose a location to review

Richard L. Pate locations:

Ratings & Reviews

  • 5.0/5.0

    If your looking for someone who is going to be readily available to answer all questions- someone knowledgeable in their field & provides great service then Rich is your guy!

    — Client

  • 5.0/5.0

    I found myself in one of the worst employment situations that I have ever been in. I was getting bullied and harassed and after going to human resources twice I felt that I had no where else to go. After sitting down and talking to Attorney...
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    — Client

  • 5.0/5.0

    I cannot say enough great things about Attorney Pate. He was not only courteous and professional to me but very intelligent in dealing with employer. He not only demonstrated skill and professionalism while handling my case but showed extra...
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    — Client

  • 5.0/5.0

    . In a no charge consultation, he advised me to contact my human resources department regarding the incident. My company investigated the incident, and it seemed to have been resolved. Six months later, my company took what I believed to b...
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    — Client

Racial Discrimination

Employers break the law when they treat workers or job applicants unfavorably due to their skin color, physical features or other personal characteristics associated with race. We advocate on behalf of people who have suffered racial discrimination in the workplace. We take a hard stance against discriminatory employers. If you were harassed, denied employment or benefits, passed up for a promotion, paid unfairly or otherwise singled out for unfair treatment because of your race, ethnicity or color, we will fight to hold the wrongful employer accountable.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin. Unfortunately, race-based discrimination and harassment still occur every day, in every type of industry. Discrimination may exist in the form of unfair actions or policies related to:

  • Hiring, promotion and discipline — Employers may act illegally by only hiring, promoting or retaining workers of the same race or color, by requiring applicants to have certain qualifications or backgrounds that are irrelevant to the job, or by unevenly disciplining employees of different ethnic backgrounds.
  • Pay and benefits — It is illegal for employers to determine a worker’s compensation or benefits based on their race or color. If you were paid less or offered lesser benefits than your coworkers of another race, your employer may have violated the law.
  • Harassment — Racial slurs, lewd or derogatory comments, the use of racial stereotypes and the display of racially offensive symbols cannot be tolerated in the workplace. When offensive behavior is frequent or severe enough to cause a hostile working environment or to result in negative employment decisions, I can take legal action on your behalf.

Even if discrimination is not intentional, its impacts can be severe. For example, some employees may have to contend with requirements that negatively affect their well-being when policies are made about grooming or dress codes without considering the fact that a vast array of hair, skin and body types exist across the wide spectrum of ethnicities. If a workplace policy that ends up excluding minorities is not job-related and necessary to the operation of a business, we can fight to have the policy amended or eradicated.