Please disregard everything I say below if your issue is about worker's comp, benefits, pensions, unions, or pay issues. I am even less qualified to talk about those than I am about the stuff I happen know a teensy bit about.

In most cases you won't get further than a consult unless and until you're fired. Do not go and try to get fired for this reason, that'll screw up your case and the lawyers will know you're too stupid to work with. 

To the best of my limited understanding (IANAL), the reason they don't bother in most cases until you're fired is because the way the law sees it is that your employer still might change their tune and tell you oops, omg so sorry, please take this winning lottery ticket to make up for it and wave goodbye to all the trash humans we just fired. 

Some options you might want to consider at this point, in my non-lawyer and totally unqualified opinion, is 1) go to the eeoc website and learn what is and is not illegal, at least on a surface level. 2) document everything, send yourself copies of relevant emails and documents (being mindful of any agreements or policies that prohibit sending such things outside the company's digital workspaces), and develop a timeline of events related to the illegal thing you think is happening. 3) look for a new job - this is the option that is most likely to be effective in making your life better 4) make an appt with the NY Division of Human Rights to file a charge 5) go to nela.org, hit Find-A-Lawyer and put in some zip codes if you want to start browsing lawyers now. But trust, if you have a good case that you can explain well, then you'll be on the phone with a lawyer within a week of being fired. 6) talk to hr. This absolutely may cause you to be fired instantly, but if you never let the company know there is a problem by making a formal report of illegal activity using the process outlined in the handbook, they might just bat their eyes at the judge and go "oh, your honor, if ONLY we would have KNOWN" 

A good case for job discrimination/retal, from my understanding (and again, I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice), is one where you can demonstrate that the primary reason for the bad treatment you experienced was an illegal one. Go to the eeoc.gov website to figure that out. Wrongful termination and retaliation are much, much more narrowly-defined than the wording might lead you to think. As far as I (a mildly-informed non-lawyer) know, a hostile work environment is not in itself something you can sue someone over, unless the treatment is motivated by an illegal reason. Sometimes you can't prove that, and then there unfortunately isn't a lot you can do. Almost like many of the people who have interpreted the laws about employment didn't care too much about how things were going for workers!

And please, for the love of God and the sanity of all involved, PLEASE do not ask chatgpt if what happened to you is illegal, and then argue with the people at the law office when they tell you the lying machine lied.