Provides for an award of attorneys' fees to prevailing parties in human rights law cases

BILL NUMBER:S4627

Title of bill

An act to amend the executive law, in relation to providing for the award of attorneys' fees to prevailing parties in actions based on the human rights law

Purpose

To provide access to justice to those who cannot afford it in actions or proceedings relating to the state human rights law

Summary of provisions

Section 1: Provides for an award of reasonable attorneys fees to prevailing parties in actions or proceedings under the human rights law.

Section 2: Provides the act shall take effect one hundred eighty days after it shall have become law.

Justification

Unlike New York City's Human Rights Law, and unlike federal civil rights law, New York State's Human Rights Law (HRL) does not provide for the possibility of reasonable attorneys fees The purpose for permitting plaintiff's attorney(s) to receive reasonable attorneys fees is to increase the remedies available to victims of discrimination.

As of 2010, 92% of all complaints filed with the New York State Division of Human Rights (DHR) were for disability discrimination or employment matters, which do not include a right to attorney's fees Although the HRL provides a right to attorneys fees for housing discrimination cases (see, N.Y. Exec. Law § 297(10)), they only made up 8% of DHR's cases in 2010.

The HRL has the potential to offer New Yorkers civil rights protections beyond federal law, but these rights may not be realized without the provision of attorney's fees. The failure of the HRL to provide for attorneys fee in non-housing related discrimination cases severely limits the protections afforded under the Human Rights Law. Furthermore, it is the exact opposite of the federal civil rights statutes upon which the HRL was modeled. Consequently, even though the HRL's protections of individuals is relatively similar to that provided by federal civil rights statutes, because it does not provide for an award of attorneys fees, many plaintiffs are unable to pursue the vindication of their rights. That is why when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, Congress added attorneys fees so that enforcement could rely in part upon private litigation to secure compliance.

The Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Awards Act of 1976, 42 U.S.C. § 1988, is one of the most widely used statutory instruments to award of attorneys' fees in federal civil rights cases. Congress enacted § 1988 to ensure that low-income individuals could effectively access the courts to enforce civil rights laws. The determination of attorneys' fees under § 1988 is also the same analysis used under Title VII, Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) and other state laws already provide for attorney's fees. Attorneys fees under the NYCHRL have been authorized since 1991 and provide that: "[i]n any civil

action commenced pursuant to this section, the court, in its discretion, may award the prevailing party costs and reasonable attorney's fees " After twenty-two years of low-income plaintiffs effectively pursuing the vindication of their rights under the NYCHRL, it is time for New York to amend the HRL to extend similarly effective protections to the rest of the state.

Legislative history

None. It is a new bill.

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect one hundred eighty days after it shall have become law.