Senate Bill S2352

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

                                  2352

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            February 18, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen. SAMPSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary

AN ACT to amend the judiciary law and the  labor  law,  in  relation  to
  creating  additional  remedies  for  unlawful  discharge,  penalty  or
  discrimination on account of the exercise of a  juror's  right  to  be
  absent from employment for jury duty

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

  Section 1.  Section 519 of the judiciary law, as added by  chapter  85
of the laws of 1995, is amended to read as follows:
  S 519. Right of juror to be absent from employment.  Any person who is
summoned  to  serve  as a juror under the provisions of this article and
who notifies his or her employer to that effect prior to  the  commence-
ment  of a term of service shall not, on account of absence from employ-
ment by reason of such jury  service,  be  subject  to  discharge  [or],
penalty, OR DISCRIMINATION IN ANY OTHER MANNER.  An employer may, howev-
er,  withhold  wages  of any such employee serving as a juror during the
period of such service; provided that an employer who employs more  than
ten employees shall not withhold the first forty dollars of such juror's
daily  wages during the first three days of jury service. Withholding of
wages in accordance with this section shall not be deemed a  penalty  OR
DISCRIMINATION  IN  ANY  OTHER MANNER.   Violation of this section shall
constitute a criminal contempt of court punishable pursuant  to  section
seven  hundred  fifty  of  this  chapter  AND  SHALL  ALSO  CONSTITUTE A
VIOLATION OF SECTION TWO HUNDRED FIFTEEN OF THE LABOR LAW AND BE SUBJECT
TO THE CIVIL PENALTIES AND CIVIL ACTION PROVIDED FOR THEREUNDER.
  S 2. Paragraph 7 of subdivision A of section 750 of the judiciary law,
as amended by chapter 823 of the laws of 1982, is  amended  to  read  as
follows:
  7.  Wilful  failure  to  obey  any  mandate, process, or notice issued
pursuant to [articles] ARTICLE sixteen[, seventeen, eighteen, eighteen-a

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD02564-01-9
              

S. 2352                             2

or eighteen-b] of [the judiciary law] THIS CHAPTER, or to rules  adopted
pursuant  thereto,  or to any other statute relating thereto, or refusal
to be sworn as  provided  therein,  or  subjection  of  an  employee  to
discharge  [or],  penalty,  OR  DISCRIMINATION  IN  ANY  OTHER MANNER on
account of his OR HER absence from  employment  by  reason  of  jury  or
subpoenaed  witness  service  in  violation  of  this chapter or section
215.11 of the penal law.   Applications to  punish  the  accused  for  a
contempt  specified  in this subdivision may be made by notice of motion
or by order to show cause, and shall be made returnable at the  term  of
the supreme court at which contested motions are heard, or of the county
court if the supreme court is not in session.
  S  3.  Section  215 of the labor law, as amended by chapter 744 of the
laws of 1986, is amended to read as follows:
  S 215. [Penalties] CIVIL PENALTIES  and  civil  action;  employer  who
penalizes  employees  because  of  complaints  of employer violations OR
BECAUSE OF EXERCISE OF THE RIGHT TO BE ABSENT FROM EMPLOYMENT  FOR  JURY
DUTY.    1.  No employer or his OR HER agent, or the officer or agent of
any corporation, shall discharge,  penalize,  or  in  any  other  manner
discriminate  against  any  employee  because  such  employee has made a
complaint to his OR HER employer, or to the commissioner or his  OR  HER
authorized  representative, that the employer has violated any provision
of this chapter, or because such employee has caused to be instituted  a
proceeding  under  or  related to this chapter, or because such employee
has testified or is about to testify in an investigation  or  proceeding
under  this  chapter,  OR BECAUSE SUCH EMPLOYEE HAS EXERCISED HIS OR HER
RIGHT TO BE ABSENT FROM EMPLOYMENT  PURSUANT  TO  SECTION  FIVE  HUNDRED
NINETEEN  OF  THE  JUDICIARY  LAW  BY REASON OF JURY SERVICE.   If after
investigation the commissioner finds that an employer has  violated  any
provision of this section, the commissioner may, by an order which shall
describe particularly the nature of the violation, assess the employer a
civil  penalty  of  not less than two hundred nor more than two thousand
dollars.  EACH ACT TAKEN IN CONTRAVENTION OF A PROHIBITION CONTAINED  IN
THIS  SECTION SHALL CONSTITUTE A SEPARATE AND DISTINCT VIOLATION OF THIS
SECTION, AND IN ASSESSING ANY SUCH CIVIL PENALTY THE COMMISSIONER  SHALL
CONSIDER, IN ADDITION TO THE NATURE OF THE VIOLATION, ALL PRIOR FINDINGS
OF  VIOLATIONS  OF  THE  PROVISIONS  OF  THIS  SECTION  BY THE EMPLOYER.
[Notwithstanding the] THE provisions of section two hundred thirteen  of
this  [chapter,  the  penalties set forth in this section] ARTICLE shall
[be the exclusive remedies available for] NOT APPLY  TO  THE  violations
[of] SPECIFIED IN this section.
  2. [An] IN ADDITION TO THE CIVIL PENALTIES PROVIDED FOR UNDER SUBDIVI-
SION  ONE  OF  THIS  SECTION,  AN employee may bring a civil action in a
court of competent jurisdiction against any employer or persons  alleged
to  have  violated  the provisions of this section. The court shall have
jurisdiction to restrain violations of this section,  within  two  years
after  such  violation,  and  to order all appropriate relief, including
rehiring or reinstatement of the employee to his OR HER former  position
with  restoration  of  seniority, payment of lost compensation, damages,
and reasonable attorneys' fees. At or before  the  commencement  of  any
action  under  this  section,  notice  thereof  shall be served upon the
attorney general by the employee.
  S 4. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day  after  it  shall
have become a law.