STATUS: Enacted

Comprehensive law expanding protections against sexual harassment as well as other forms of harassment and discrimination in a variety of ways.

This law strengthened the state anti-discrimination law (New York Human Rights Law) by: covering all employer in the state, regardless of size; removing the “severe or pervasive” legal standard for harassment claims; eliminating the employer liability defense that an employee did not follow internal procedures; expanding protections against all forms of harassment and discrimination to all contractors, subcontractors, vendors, consultants, or others providing services, and against all forms of discriminatory harassment to domestic workers; providing for punitive damages in discrimination claims against private employers and attorneys’ fees in all discrimination claims; extending the statute of limitations from one to three years for filing sexual harassment claims (only) with the New York State Division of Human Rights; requiring notice to employees of the employer’s sexual harassment policy; and updating the power of the Attorney General to enforce the Human Rights Law. The law expanded on a 2018 law to prohibit NDAs in settlements of all discrimination and harassment claims (not just sexual harassment), unless requested by the complainant and with certain required protections for the complainant. It also expanded on a 2018 law to prohibit mandatory arbitration related to all discrimination claims (not just sexual harassment).

Read the full law.