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Senate Bill S6490

2017-2018 Legislative Session

Relates to attorney's fees in human rights cases

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Sponsored By

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

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2017-S6490 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:
Senate Investigations And Government Operations
Law Section:
Executive Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §297, Exec L

2017-S6490 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides that attorney's fees may be awarded in all human rights cases.

2017-S6490 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2017-S6490 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf 

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6490
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 25, 2017
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sen. YOUNG -- (at request of the Division of Human Rights)
   -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to
   the Committee on Investigations and Government Operations
 
 AN  ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to providing that attor-
   ney's fees may be awarded in all 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
 amended by chapter 364 of the laws  of  2015,  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  attor-
 ney's fees to any prevailing or substantially prevailing party; and with
 respect  to [a claim of employment or credit discrimination where sex is
 a basis of such discrimination] ALL OTHER CLAIMS OF  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 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  proceed-
 ing  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 attor-
 ney'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
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

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