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Assembly Bill A8184

2009-2010 Legislative Session

Awards attorney fees and expert witness fees in appropriate cases

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Investigations And Government Operations Committee

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2009-A8184 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Senate Version of this Bill:
S3884
Current Committee:
Senate Investigations And Government Operations
Law Section:
Executive Law
Laws Affected:
Amd ยง297, Exec L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:
2011-2012: A1860
2013-2014: A353
2015-2016: A1998
2017-2018: A3923
2019-2020: A2475
2021-2022: A1899

2009-A8184 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Awards attorney fees and expert witness fees in employment discrimination cases.

2009-A8184 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf 

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  8184

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                               May 7, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M. of A. DINOWITZ, WEINSTEIN -- (at request of the Divi-
  sion of Human Rights) -- read once and referred to  the  Committee  on
  Judiciary

AN  ACT  to  amend  the  executive law, in relation to providing for the
  award of attorney's fees and expert witness fees in appropriate cases

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Subdivision  10  of  section 297 of the executive law, as
added by section 17 of part D of chapter 405 of the  laws  of  1999,  is
amended to read as follows:
  10.  [With  respect to cases of housing discrimination only, in] 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;  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 hear-
ing 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.  WITH RESPECT
TO CASES OF EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION ONLY, THE AWARD OF ATTORNEY'S FEES
WILL BE LIMITED TO THOSE CASES IN WHICH THE EMPLOYER HAS FIFTY  OR  MORE
EMPLOYEES.  EXPERT  WITNESS  FEES  MAY  BE AWARDED IN THE SAME MANNER AS
ATTORNEY'S FEES. In order to find the action or proceeding to be  frivo-
lous,  the court or the commissioner must find in writing one or more of
the following:

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD09042-01-9

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