Require Restroom Access for Illness

Section two amends the public health law by adding a new article 19.

Section 1900 of article nineteen provides the definition for "eligible medical condition." Section 1901 of article nineteen provides that a place of business that is open to the general public and has a toilet facility for its employees shall allow a person who is lawfully on the premises during normal business hours access to the employee toilet facility as long as the person requesting use of the employee toilet has an eligible medical condition or utilizes an ostomy device, provided that the place of business may require the individual to present reasonable evidence that he or she has an eligible medical condition or uses an ostomy device; two or more employees of the place of business are working at the time the individual requests use of the employee toilet facility; the place of business does not normally make the employee toilet facility available to the public; the employee toilet facility is located in at area where there would be no obvious health safety or security risk; use of the toilet facility would not create an obvious health or safety risk to the requesting individual; and a public restroom is not immediately accessible to the requesting person

Section 1902 of article nineteen provides that a place of business open to the public for the sale of goods or services is not required to make physical changes to its employee toilet facility.

Section three provides the effective date.

Justification

Increasing numbers of people are being diagnosed with inflammatory bowel diseases. It is estimated that over 600,000 Americans suffer from Crohn's disease alone, which is an ongoing disorder of the gastrointestinal tract. It causes swelling of the intestines, creating pain and diarrhea. People who suffer from such diseases often need urgent and sudden access to a toilet facility.

In Illinois, a teenaged girl named Ally Bain, who has Crohn's disease, had a humiliating incident in public when she was denied access to an employee-only restroom. She was, bravely, instrumental in the passage of Illinois's Restroom Access Act, also known as Ally's Law. In addition to Illinois, fourteen other states have passed the Restroom Access Act: Texas, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Minnesota, Michigan, Washington, Tennessee, Colorado, Ohio, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Oregon.

This legislation creates a compassionate system for those who suffer from gastrointestinal diseases by making it possible for those who have an eligible medical condition, as defined in the bill, to have access to an employee-only toilet facility in a place of business that is already open to the public when there are at least two employees working at the time of the request, and using that facility would not create a health, safety, or security risk.

This legislation would not create any additional cost to businesses as they are not required to alter their toilet facility. Also, a business would not be required to provide access to their toilet facility when another facility is immediately accessible to the requesting person.

Legislative history

2015-2016: S.4918 2014: 4803-A

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it shall have become law, provided that the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized and directed to be made and completed on or before such effective date.