Assembly Bill A8253

2013-2014 Legislative Session

Provides for the award of attorney fees in actions under the human rights law

download bill text pdf

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Assembly Committee

  • Introduced
    • In Committee Assembly
    • In Committee Senate
    • On Floor Calendar Assembly
    • On Floor Calendar Senate
    • Passed Assembly
    • Passed Senate
  • Delivered to Governor
  • Signed By Governor

Do you support this bill?

Please enter your contact information

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.
Actions

2013-A8253 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Senate Version of this Bill:
S3492
Current Committee:
Assembly Governmental Operations
Law Section:
Executive Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §297, Exec L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:
2015-2016: A5441, S2380
2017-2018: A4688, S2261
2019-2020: A8795, S4085
2021-2022: A4471, S3323
2023-2024: A4240, S5767

2013-A8253 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides for the award of attorney's fees in actions under the human rights law.

2013-A8253 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf 

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

                                  8253

                       2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                            November 6, 2013
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  O'DONNELL  --  read once and referred to the
  Committee on Governmental Operations

AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to providing  for  awards
  of attorney's fees in actions under the human rights law

  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]  SHALL 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] PLAINTIFF OR
COMPLAINANT. In no case shall attorney's fees be awarded  to  the  divi-
sion,  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 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

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD08196-04-3

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.