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Has a boss ever asked you to drinks or dinner, and something about it felt off? On this episode of Cut to the Chase: host Gregg Goldfarb sits down with Jesse Weinstein, a partner at Phillips & Associates who has recovered nearly $40 million for employees facing harassment, discrimination, and retaliation at work.

Jesse walks through why office happy hours create risk, why HR exists to protect the company rather than the employee, and what retaliation looks like long before someone actually gets fired. He also breaks down medical leave, caregiver rights, and the protections available to pregnant employees, including what happens when people return from parental leave to find their role has quietly disappeared.

Practicing across New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, Jesse shares how to document harassment the right way, what New York City’s around-the-clock liability standard means for off-hours conduct, and why reading your employee handbook before anything happens could make or break a future case.

 

Join Gregg and Jesse Weinstein on Cut to the Chase as they explore:

What You’ll Learn

  • Why mixing alcohol into work events raises the risk of harassment, and why saying no can trigger its own backlash

  • Why HR exists to protect the company, not the employee, and how investigations can be quietly limited

  • How to document harassment the right way, including timestamped notes, texts, and one-party consent recording rules

  • What counts as retaliation before you’re ever fired: isolation, stripped duties, sudden scrutiny, and cold shouldering

  • Why New York City’s automatic employer liability rule can apply even to off-premises conduct

  • Your rights around short-term disability, FMLA, and caregiver leave for a family member’s medical condition

  • What protections exist for pregnant employees, from morning sickness accommodations to return-from-leave retaliation

  • Why contingency-fee representation means legal help doesn’t require money up front

Key Moments

  • Introduction: the “boss asks you out” scenario and today’s topics

  • Why alcohol at work events raises the risk of harassment

  • Why rejecting a boss’s advances can trigger its own backlash

  • Spotting workplace culture red flags during the interview process

  • Why HR exists to protect the company, not the employee

  • How investigations get limited: unquestioned witnesses and quiet dismissals

  • Why documentation matters: timestamped notes, texts, and one-party consent recording

  • Practicing across New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania

  • Sending a rejection text, and why it counters the “it was consensual” defense

  • What leadership can do to actually curb workplace harassment

  • Reading the employee handbook and finding the right HR contact

  • New York City’s automatic employer liability for supervisor harassment

  • What retaliation looks like before termination: isolation, stripped duties, scrutiny

  • Weighing legal strategy against personal and career consequences

  • When to call a lawyer, even before you’ve been fired

  • New York’s 24/7/365 liability standard for off-premises harassment

  • Why most people only read their handbook after meeting a lawyer

  • Medical leave rights: short-term disability and FMLA

  • Caregiver leave for a family member’s medical condition

  • Pregnancy rights: morning sickness accommodations and the “interactive process”

  • Retaliation after returning from parental leave, and hidden reorgs

  • How contingency fee representation works

  • Whether employees can negotiate to get their job back after termination

  • Closing thoughts and how to reach Jesse

Jesse Weinstein is a partner at Phillips & Associates, where he represents employees facing harassment, discrimination, and retaliation across New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Over eight years of practice, he has recovered nearly $40 million for clients, with a focus on advocating for women in lower-power roles who often don’t know their workplace rights.

 

Contact / Follow Jesse Weinstein:

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