On March 14, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that the protections of the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL) and the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) can apply to non-New York state or city residents or...more
Effective November 26, 2023, a significant amendment to New York City’s Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) prohibits discrimination based on height and weight. This development aligns the city with a growing trend of jurisdictions,...more
On May 26, 2023, Mayor Eric Adams signed into law a bill that expands New York City's anti-discrimination laws, adding height and weight as protected characteristics under the New York City Human Rights Law. Effective on...more
On May 11, 2023, the New York City Council approved a bill to prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of an individual’s height or weight. The bill, Int. No. 209-A, was sent to Mayor Eric Adams for final approval...more
As New York State employers are well aware, effective October 9, 2018, New York State Labor Law Section 201-g requires that employers adopt a sexual harassment policy and provide annual employee sexual harassment training....more
New York’s Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act legalized recreational cannabis in New York State on March 31, 2021. While it will take some time to organize and implement many aspects of the law ...more
Failing a drug test may not kill the buzz for medical marijuana patients in the Empire State. In contrast to courts in California and other jurisdictions, a New York state court has held that medical marijuana users are...more
Effective January 11, 2020, the New York City Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”) has been amended to expand protections under the law to freelancers and independent contractors. Significantly, this includes the requirement that...more
Effective January 1, 2020, the protections in the New York City Administrative Code, Section 8-107 (Section 8-102 et seq. of the Code is referred to as the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL)) for employees now extends to...more
Earlier this year, the New York City Commission on Human Rights published robust model policies for employers to use in guiding compliance with the city’s lactation accommodation law. Not to be outdone, California has enacted...more
On Sept. 12, 2019, the New York City Council passed a law, Int. 0136-A, that expands the scope of the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) to provide protections for freelancers and independent contractors....more
On October 13, 2019, New York City enacted Int. 136-A (“Law”), which will extend the employment protections of the New York City Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”) to freelancers and independent contractors, thereby allowing these...more
In recent years both New York State and New York City have actively amended their anti-discrimination laws to expand worker protections. For example, both the state and city have passed laws requiring most employers to...more
In this episode of The Proskauer Brief, partner Evandro Gigante and associate Arielle Kobetz discuss the recent developments out of New York State, that will significantly expand workplace anti-discrimination protections....more
• Amendments to the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL) lower the bar for employees and individual nonemployees pursuing discrimination and harassment claims. • In several respects, the amendments align the NYSHRL...more
After enacting progressive sexual harassment laws just last year, New York State (NYS) lawmakers have once again strengthened employee protections in the workplace. Governor Cuomo signed Assembly Bill No. 8421 into law on...more
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently signed legislation amending state law to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on hair texture or protective hairstyles as race-based discrimination. The new law took effect...more
In its latest development, the New York State Legislature expanded its signature legislation addressing sexual harassment training and prevention and passed a new bill this year that provides greater protections under the New...more
On Feb. 18, 2019, the New York City Commission on Human Rights released new legal enforcement guidance stating that “grooming or appearance policies that ban, limit, or otherwise restrict natural hairstyles or hairstyles...more
In response to mounting attention to the #MeToo movement, on June 19, 2019, the New York State Legislature passed Assembly Bill A8421 / Senate Bill 6577 (“Bill”), a measure that is even more far-reaching and, thus,...more
Just before the end of its session, the New York Legislature expanded protections against discrimination and harassment under the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL). The Governor still has to sign the new bill into law,...more
California Senate Bill (SB) 188 seeks to provide a broader definition of “race” in California’s anti-discrimination law. The bill defines “race” as “inclusive of traits historically associated with race, including, but not...more
On March 17, 2019, amendments to the New York City Human Rights Law went into effect that require New York City employers with four or more employees to provide their employees with reasonable unpaid or paid break time and a...more
As we previously reported, pursuant to a recent amendment to the New York City Human Rights Law, covered employers must now develop and implement a written policy regarding the provision of a lactation room, to be distributed...more
The New York City Council recently passed Int. 0863-2018, a bill which amends the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) to prohibit employment discrimination and harassment on the basis of “sexual and reproductive health...more