What's happening
This bill amends New York’s executive law to strengthen protections for protected classes and clarify procedures for sexual harassment and discrimination claims.
Why it matters
Expands which employers are covered. The bill clarifies that all employers in New York—without exceptions for government or public entities—are included under anti-discrimination and anti-harassment laws, ensuring broader protection for workers.
Lowers the burden for harassment claims. It removes the requirement that harassment must be “severe or pervasive,” making it easier for individuals to bring complaints if they experience inferior treatment based on protected characteristics. This shifts the focus to whether conduct would be considered more than a petty slight or trivial inconvenience by a reasonable person in the same protected class.
Changes to attorney’s fees in discrimination cases. Rather than automatically awarding attorney’s fees to prevailing parties in employment discrimination claims, courts and the human rights commissioner now have discretion. Additionally, employers can only recover fees if the claim was found to be frivolous, reducing the risk of financial retaliation against employees who file complaints.
Clarifies application to existing claims. The protections and procedures outlined in the bill apply to claims that accrue (i.e., incidents that happen) after the effective date, not just those filed after that date, which impacts how ongoing and future disputes are handled.
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Who cares
Employees facing workplace harassment
The bill would clarify that the petty-slights defense considers a reasonable victim with the same protected characteristic or combination of characteristics.
Employment discrimination litigants
The bill would make attorney’s fee awards to prevailing parties discretionary rather than mandatory, while retaining the requirement that prevailing defendants show the case was frivolous.
Courts and the Division of Human Rights
The bill would tie specified provisions of the related legislation to when claims accrue, rather than when they are filed.
State and local government employers
The bill would remove the explicit reference to the state and its political subdivisions from the employer definition while retaining coverage of all employers within the state.
Headline styles
Expand Worker Harassment Protections
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Signed chap.161
- Delivered to governor
- Returned to senate
- Passed assembly
- Ordered to third reading rules cal.617
- Substituted for A8424
- Referred to ways and means
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 62–0
- Ordered to third reading cal.1749
- Referred to rules
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Strengthen Protections Against Harassment
Assembly Floor Calendar · Sponsor Aravella Simotas
Full text
3 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6594
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
June 17, 2019
Introduced by Sen. BIAGGI -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to increased protections for protected classes and special protections for employees who have been sexually harassed; and to amend a chapter of the laws of 2019, amending the executive law relating to increased protections for protected classes and special protections for employees who have been sexually harassed, as proposed in legislative bills numbers A. 8421 and S. 6577, in relation to the effectiveness thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 5 of section 292 of the executive law, as amended by a chapter of the laws of 2019 amending the executive law and other laws relating to increased protections for protected classes and special protections for employees who have been sexually harassed, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 6577 and A. 8421, is amended to read as follows:
5. The term "employer" shall include all employers within the state[, including the state and all political subdivisions thereof].
§ 2. Paragraph (h) of subdivision 1 of section 296 of the executive law, as added by a chapter of the laws of 2019 amending the executive law and other laws relating to increased protections for protected classes and special protections for employees who have been sexually harassed, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 6577 and A. 8421, is amended to read as follows:
(h) For an employer, licensing agency, employment agency or labor organization to subject any individual to harassment because of an individual's age, race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, sex, disability, predisposing genetic characteristics, familial status, marital status, domestic violence victim status, or because the individual has opposed any
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08950-05-9
S. 6594 2
practices forbidden under this article or because the individual has filed a complaint, testified or assisted in any proceeding under this article, regardless of whether such harassment would be considered severe or pervasive under precedent applied to harassment claims. Such harassment is an unlawful discriminatory practice when it subjects an individual to inferior terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of the individual's membership in one or more of these protected categories. The fact that such individual did not make a complaint about the harassment to such employer, licensing agency, employment agency or labor organization shall not be determinative of whether such employer, licensing agency, employment agency or labor organization shall be liable. Nothing in this section shall imply that an employee must demonstrate the existence of an individual to whom the employee's treatment must be compared. It shall be an affirmative defense to liability under this subdivision that the harassing conduct does not rise above the level of what a reasonable victim of discrimination with the same protected characteristic or characteristics would consider petty slights or trivial inconveniences.
§ 3. Subdivision 10 of section 297 of the executive law, as amended by a chapter of the laws of 2019 amending the executive law and other laws relating to increased protections for protected classes and special protections for employees who have been sexually harassed, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 6577 and A. 8421, is amended to read as follows:
10. With respect to all cases of housing discrimination and housing related credit discrimination in an action or proceeding at law under this section or section two hundred ninety-eight of this article, the commissioner or the court may in its discretion award reasonable attorney's fees to any prevailing or substantially prevailing party; and with respect to a claim of credit discrimination where sex is a basis of such discrimination, and with respect to all claims of employment discrimination in an action or proceeding at law under this section or section two hundred ninety-eight of this article, the commissioner or the court [shall] may in its discretion award reasonable attorney's fees attributable to such claim to any prevailing party; provided, however, that a prevailing respondent or defendant in order to recover such reasonable attorney's fees must make a motion requesting such fees and show that the action or proceeding brought was frivolous; and further provided that in a proceeding brought in the division of human rights, the commissioner may only award attorney's fees as part of a final order after a public hearing held pursuant to subdivision four of this section. In no case shall attorney's fees be awarded to the division, nor shall the division be liable to a prevailing or substantially prevailing party for attorney's fees, except in a case in which the division is a party to the action or the proceeding in the division's capacity as an employer. In cases of employment discrimination, a respondent shall only be liable for attorney's fees under this subdivision if the respondent has been found liable for having committed an unlawful discriminatory practice. In order to find the action or proceeding to be frivolous, the court or the commissioner must find in writing one or more of the following:
(a) the action or proceeding was commenced, used or continued in bad faith, solely to delay or prolong the resolution of the litigation or to harass or maliciously injure another; or
(b) the action or proceeding was commenced or continued in bad faith without any reasonable basis and could not be supported by a good faith
S. 6594 3
argument for an extension, modification or reversal of existing law. If the action or proceeding was promptly discontinued when the party or attorney learned or should have learned that the action or proceeding lacked such a reasonable basis, the court may find that the party or the attorney did not act in bad faith.
§ 4. Subdivision (d) of section 16 of a chapter of the laws of 2019, amending the executive law relating to increased protections for protected classes and special protections for employees who have been sexually harassed, as proposed in legislative bills numbers A. 8421 and S. 6577, is amended to read as follows:
(d) Sections one, one-a, two, three, four, five, six and thirteen shall only apply to claims [filed] accrued under such sections on or after the effective date of such sections.
§ 5. This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as a chapter of the laws of 2019 amending the executive law and other laws relating to increased protections for protected classes and special protections for employees who have been sexually harassed, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 6577 and A. 8421, takes effect.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to increased protections for protected classes and special protections for employees who have been sexually harassed; and to amend a chapter of the laws of 2019, amending the executive law relating to increased protections for protected classes and special protections for employees who have been sexually harassed, as proposed in legislative bills numbers A. 8421 and S. 6577, in relation to the effectiveness thereof
Purpose
This is a chapter amendment that makes changes to provisions S.6577, to fix technical mistakes.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends the definition of employer in the human rights law to remove redundant language on public employers, which do fall under the jurisdiction of the human rights law.
§ 2 amends the new paragraph (h) of section 296 of the human rights law to include a plural version of characteristic.
§ 3 amends subdivision 10 of section 297 of the human rights law to state that courts may at its discretion impose lawyers' fees on those cases now eligible for lawyers' fees.
§ 4 amends the effective date of S.6577 to clarify that the changes in law being enacted in these pieces of legislation will apply to cases that start to accrue after the effective dates of these changes, not before.
§ 5 establishes an effective date.
JUSTIFICATION
These amendments make technical corrections to the existing bill, particularly for a legal concern created by the manner in which the effective date language for the initial bill was drafted.
Legislative history
S.6577 and A.8421 will pass their respective houses prior to this legis- lation passing.
Fiscal implications
None to the State
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as a chapter of the laws of 2019 amending the executive law and other laws relating to increased protections for protected classes and special protections for employees who have been sexually harassed, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 6577 and A. 8421, takes effect.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.