Our Practice

LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LAW

            - SEXUAL HARASSMENT and GENDER DISCRIMINATION in the workplace. If your supervisor or a coworker is making sexual innuendos, relentlessly pursuing you, or worse yet, making unwanted physical contact, - That's Illegal. And you don't have to tolerate it!

CIVIL RIGHTS/DISCRIMINATION

             -SEXUAL ASSAULT, RAPE and INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE 

         *NYC Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act [GMVPA] has a 9-year statute of limitations and protects victims of crimes like DV, Intimate-Partner Violence and Sexual Violence and creates civil remedies. You can have access to meaningul remedies for the harm you endure.  It's 2025. TIME'S UP for predators!  

• CONSENT: NY law recognizes that engaging in nonconsensual sexual activity with a person is a crime. Yet, consent is not defined in the law. Legislation is introduced frequently to correct this problematic lack of protection for victims in NY law. We will continue to support these efforts.

TITLE IX- HARASSMENT AND ASSAULT IN SCHOOLS 

             Students deserve to learn free from abuse, stalking, and rape! Protecting them is the LAW. We sue institutions who neglect to do so.    

CHILD VICTIMS ACT - If your child is a victim of abuse, we can help. 

STALKING and TRAFFICKING - We have achieved high-level settlements in sex trafficking and assault matters involving institutions and public figures. Power can make predators believe they are untouchable. Don't Believe It. We can help.  

FAMILY LAW

            - ORDERS OF PROTECTION

            - CHILD CUSTODY

IMMIGRANT  RIGHTS are HUMAN RIGHTS

            -  U-Visa (Domestic Violence)

           -  T-Visa (Trafficking)

If you are an immigrant and a crime victim, you may have access to immigrant benefits like a green card and US citizenship.           

VICTIMS RIGHTS - SURVIVOR ADVOCACY

*Our advocacy does not end with individual claims.  We work to advance legislation that places human rights first, and we speak out and stand up for survivors.  We give voice to injustice and speak truth to power. We collaborate with organizations that protect survivors. We are connected with the community.  #SurvivorRightsAreHumanRights #GenderJustice #TraumaInformedJustice #ImmigrantRightsAreHumanRights

https://www.linkedin.com/in/patriciampastor       

Sexual Assault can impact a victim and her life immeasurably.  The effects of this experience  can be severely traumatizing and often include emotional and physical symptoms such as:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Complex and chronic PTSD
• Insomnia
• Flashbacks/ body recall
• Dissociation/numbing
• Substance use disorders
• Eating disorders

It is critical that a survivor has a trauma-informed attorney to work with her in her search for justice.  Taking action can bring multiple benefits for the survivor including: 

• a sense of empowerment and control over her/his life; 
• compensation for the damages caused to her health, physical and emotional wellbeing, and for pain and suffering; and
•  access to resources for continued progress.

Under federal law, unlawful sexual harassment is gender based discrimination that involves  

• frequent or severe unwelcome sexual conduct 
• either creates an offensive, hositle work environment 

                OR

• results in a negative employment decision. 

The harasser may be:

• a supervisor
• coworker
• nonemployee, e.g., customer

Under NYC Law, a victim of unlawful harassment need not demonstrate severe or pervasive conduct.  They simply must  show that it results in their being treated less well than other employees based on their sex.

 Examples of sexual harassment include: 

• Sexually offensive comments or "jokes"

• Sexual gestures

• Comments about a person's gender or sexual preferences, whether complimentary or derogatory

• Unwanted groping or touching

• Coerced sexual contact or activity

• Requests for sexual favors 

• Requests of a sexually suggestive nature

• Displays of pornographic images

If you have been subjected to harassment, we can help you determine whether you are entitled to compensation. 

NYC VICTIMS OF GENDER MOTIVATED VIOLENCE PROTECTION LAW (VGMPL)

NYC's Victims of Gender Motivated Protection Law (VGMPL allows  surivors of gender-motivated violence to sue their abuser and anyone who enabled them up to 9 years from the date of the offense. It affords survivors a right to seek compensatory and punitive damages, injunctive and declaratory relief, attorney’s fees and costs.

This law makes it unlawful in New York City to commit an act of violence because of a person's gender. It provides survivors the opportunity to seek recovery against the aggressors independently of other potential claims, including assault, battery, and civil rights claim under federal and state law which protect survivors throughout the State and the country.    

CHILD VICTIMS ACT  

• Encourages survivors to file a claim for money damages not just against their abusers, but also against any public and private institutions that could have prevented the abuse and failed to do so.
• Extends New York’s statutes of limitations for survivors of child sexual abuse, permitting survivors to bring criminal charges against the abuser until the survivor’s 28th birthday.
• Permits civil actions by the survivor before they turn 55.

Survivors of child sexual abuse may not fully understand what happened to them. They may blame themselves or feel ashamed, even though it was not their fault. Children often cannot face that perhaps a trusted adult has harmed them, and they feel responsible. They may not even tell anyone at the time. 

Traumatic reactions to sexual abuse are innumerable and can last for many years. They may include:

• Stress-related illness including physical illness
• Anxiety and Depression
• PTSD and Complex PTSD

We can help with resources that support survivors with treatment and counseling. We work with a wide network of advocates and fierce allies of survivors. Let us help you find support you so you can get through this process with the most ease possible.

We are vigilant advocates for survivors, and we work to achieve a resolution that brings substantial compensation for the serious harm caused to our survivor clients. 

Compensation may include medical care, therapeutic care and counseling, medication, and pain and suffering damages. Survivors may also be entitled to recover punitive damages depending on the specific circumstances and details of the abuse. 

Sexual harassment is prohibited by:

• Title VII of the 1964 federal Civil Rights Act, 
• New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRS)  

                    -  includes gender identity and transgender status

• NYC Human Rights Law (NYCHRL)

                     -  includes actual or perceived gender, including transgender, non-binary or gender non-conforming individuals

• New York State Orientation Non-Discrimination Act (SONDA) prohibits harassment on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972,  20 U.S.C. §1681 et seq. is a federal civil rights law which prohibits sex discrimination, including discrimination based on pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. 

Title IX :

• protects the right to be free of sexual harassment in the learning environment.  
• has been instrumental in combating sexual assault and sexual violence in educational settings.  
• enforced by The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR), which investigates complaints, conducts compliance reviews, and provides technical assistance. 
• Schools who violate have opportunity to remedy the violation voluntarily.  
• Students harassed or assaulted by a student, teacher, staff member or anyone connected with school, on or off campus, should report violation to the school administration and contact a knowledgeable attorney.