NY State Senate Bill 2019-S4393

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

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

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

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2020	referred to investigations and government operations
Mar 11, 2019	referred to investigations and government operations

2019-S4393 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A6472
Current Committee:: Senate Investigations And Government Operations
Law Section:: Executive Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §297, Exec L
Versions Introduced in 2021-2022 Legislative Session:: S3110

2019-S4393 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Allows for punitive damages for unlawful discriminatory practices beyond just housing discrimination cases.

2019-S4393 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S4393

SPONSOR: KRUEGER
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the executive law, in relation to
unlawful discriminatory practices

 
PURPOSE OF BILL:

This bill allows the award of punitive damages to victims of all forms
of unlawful discrimination.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends § 297(9) of the executive law to allow punitive damages
awards for all unlawful discrimination civil law cases.

Section 2 states the law shall be effective immediately.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Unlawful discriminatory practices have profound negative economic and
societal effects on both victims of discrimination and employers,
resulting in higher unemployment rates, lower productivity, and
increases in depression for victims.

Employment discrimination remains a persistent and widespread problem,
with incidences of such discrimination rapidly rising each year.
Statistics show that while one in three Americans have been discrimi-
nated against at work, the behavior is often unreported because of fears
of retaliation or a hostile work environment.  Allowing punitive damages
for persons aggrieved by unlawful discriminatory practices will not only
act as a. deterrent for similar acts of discrimination in the future,
but will set a public example that such misbehavior will not be toler-
ated.

Both federal law and New York City Human Rights Law allow for punitive
damages to be awarded to a plaintiff alleging unlawful workplace
discrimination. This bill seeks to amend state law to permit recovery of
punitive damages for New York State discrimination claims as well.
Currently, many victims of discrimination inside New York State find it
necessary to bring a federal claim in federal court in order to obtain
punitive damages. Allowing punitive damages under state law would elimi-
nate the need for plaintiffs to bring a federal case to be made whole.
It would also likely result in faster resolution of discrimination
claims because federal cases generally take longer and are more expen-
sive to resolve.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

None

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None to the state.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2019-S4393 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4393
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 11, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. KRUEGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Govern-
   ment Operations
 
 AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to unlawful discriminato-
   ry practices
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision  9  of  section  297 of the executive law, as
 amended by section 16 of part D of chapter 405 of the laws of  1999,  is
 amended to read as follows:
   9.  Any  person claiming to be aggrieved by an unlawful discriminatory
 practice shall have a cause of action in any court of appropriate juris-
 diction for damages, including,  [in  cases  of  housing  discrimination
 only,]  punitive damages, and such other remedies as may be appropriate,
 including any civil fines and penalties provided in subdivision four  of
 this section, unless such person had filed a complaint hereunder or with
 any  local commission on human rights, or with the superintendent pursu-
 ant to the provisions of section two hundred ninety-six-a of this  chap-
 ter,  provided  that, where the division has dismissed such complaint on
 the grounds of administrative convenience, on the grounds  of  untimeli-
 ness,  or on the grounds that the election of remedies is annulled, such
 person shall maintain all rights to bring suit as if  no  complaint  had
 been  filed  with  the division. At any time prior to a hearing before a
 hearing examiner, a person who has a complaint pending at  the  division
 may request that the division dismiss the complaint and annul his or her
 election  of  remedies so that the human rights law claim may be pursued
 in court, and the division may, upon such request, dismiss the complaint
 on the grounds that such person's election of an  administrative  remedy
 is annulled. Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of section two hundred four
 of  the  civil  practice law and rules, if a complaint is so annulled by
 the division, upon the request of  the  party  bringing  such  complaint
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD09960-01-9

 S. 4393                             2
 
 before  the  division, such party's rights to bring such cause of action
 before a court of appropriate jurisdiction shall be limited by the stat-
 ute of limitations in effect in such court at the time the complaint was
 initially filed with the division. Any party to a housing discrimination
 complaint  shall  have the right within twenty days following a determi-
 nation of probable cause pursuant to subdivision two of this section  to
 elect  to  have  an  action  commenced in a civil court, and an attorney
 representing the division of human rights will be appointed  to  present
 the  complaint  in court, or, with the consent of the division, the case
 may be presented by complainant's attorney. A  complaint  filed  by  the
 equal  employment opportunity commission to comply with the requirements
 of 42 USC 2000e-5(c) and 42 USC 12117(a) and 29  USC  633(b)  shall  not
 constitute the filing of a complaint within the meaning of this subdivi-
 sion.  No  person  who  has initiated any action in a court of competent
 jurisdiction or who has an  action  pending  before  any  administrative
 agency under any other law of the state based upon an act which would be
 an  unlawful  discriminatory  practice  under  this  article, may file a
 complaint with respect to the same grievance under this section or under
 section two hundred ninety-six-a of this article.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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.

Senate Bill S4393

Sponsored By

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

2019-S4393 (ACTIVE) - Details

2019-S4393 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2019-S4393 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2019-S4393 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S4393

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Liz Krueger

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

2019-S4393 (ACTIVE) - Details

2019-S4393 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2019-S4393 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2019-S4393 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments