Senate Bill S1518

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S1518

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the civil rights law, in relation to waiving the
state's sovereign immunity to claims under the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990


 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :

This bill waives the State's sovereign immunity with regard to
application of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as it
applies to the protection of state employees.

 SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS :

This will restore the rights of state employees to sue the State of
New York for damages due to violations of the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA). This would allow the State of New York to be
sued in state court for any violation of the ADA's access and
accommodation standards. This includes failure to accommodate state
employees with disabilities and failure to provide access for the
disabled public to government services, programs and activities.

 JUSTIFICATION :
              

On February 22, 2001, the US Supreme Court ruled in Board of Trustees
v. Garrett that in the enactment of the ADA, US Congress has exceeded
its power to authorize lawsuits by residents against their own states
under the 11th Amendment. However, the ruling allows states to opt to
hold themselves to the standards that were originally set out by the
ADA, prior to that decision by waiving their sovereign immunity and
thereby permitting actions in state courts. This ruling effectively
took away the protection for state workers under the ADA while
upholding the same protection for privately employed individ- uals,
creating a disparity. This bill will ensure that all employees,
including those employed by the state, have the same protections under
the ADA as they have had since 1990.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2006: S.7130 died in Senate Codes Committee

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS :

Minimal.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become law and shall be deemed to have been in full force and effect
on and after February 21, 2001.