What's happening
This bill requires large cities in New York to establish independent oversight for health inspectors and allow restaurants to reschedule inspections for a fee.
Why it matters
Creates a formal way for restaurant owners and employees to anonymously report misconduct or concerns about health inspectors. , potentially increasing accountability and reducing fears of retaliation for speaking out.
Requires oversight bodies to investigate repeated complaints and publicly report trends and outcomes. , which could help identify patterns of inspector abuse or bias, and inform policy improvements.
Mandates that complaint systems be accessible in multiple languages. , which can empower non-English-speaking restaurant owners and workers to participate in oversight and seek redress.
Allows restaurants to reschedule inspections for a fee, up to three times,. which may help businesses better prepare for inspections and avoid disruptions during peak hours, but could also have implications for the consistency and timing of public health enforcement.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Protect Restaurant Whistleblowers
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Assembly Member · Assembly District 40
History
- Referred to health
- Referred to health
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
3052
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 28, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. KIM, VANEL, PHEFFER AMATO, NIOU, ORTIZ, ABBATE, McDONOUGH, JONES, COLTON, D'URSO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to direct cities with a population of one million or more which employ health inspectors to oversee the compliance of restaurants and food establishments
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known as and may be cited as the "restaurant owner whistleblower protection act".
§ 2. a. All cities with a population of one million or more which employ health inspectors to oversee the compliance of restaurants and food establishments with local health regulations shall establish an independent oversight body to receive anonymous complaints about health inspectors from restaurant owners or employees.
b. Such independent oversight body shall investigate any consistent reporting about health inspectors from restaurant owners or employees and shall refer such cases to the city's investigative agency.
c. Such independent oversight body shall provide:
i. a hotline number and website to intake complaints provided in the following languages: Arabic; Bengali; Chinese; French; Haitian-Creole; Korean; Russian; Spanish and Urdu; and
ii. an annual summary report to the restaurant associations and the public of complaints by restaurant owners, that includes how many total complaints, top type of complaints, and investigative findings.
§ 3. All cities with a population of one million or more which employ health inspectors to oversee the compliance of restaurants and food establishments with local health regulations shall establish a process by which restaurants and food establishments can refuse to participate in an inspection by paying a fee to reschedule the inspection visit, up to three times. The fees to be imposed shall be:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03814-01-9
A. 3052 2
a. seventy-five dollars paid by the restaurant or food establishment to the agency employing the health inspector for the first time rescheduling;
b. one hundred fifty dollars paid by the restaurant or food establishment to the agency employing the health inspector for a second rescheduling; and
c. two hundred fifty dollars paid by the restaurant or food establishment to the agency employing the health inspector for a third rescheduling.
§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.