Bill Text: NY A00849 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Prohibits settlement agreements in any claim involving sexual harassment or any other form of discrimination prohibited by law from containing any condition that requires the complainant to pay the defendant liquidated damages in the event that the plaintiff violates any nondisclosure agreement included in such settlement agreement.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 28-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-07-15 - print number 849d [A00849 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A00849-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                         849--A
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    January 11, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by M. of A. SIMOTAS, QUART, PAULIN, SEAWRIGHT, M. G. MILLER,
          LENTOL, GOTTFRIED, CRUZ, THIELE, STIRPE, SIMON, ZEBROWSKI, CYMBROWITZ,
          STERN, GLICK, FERNANDEZ, MAGNARELLI, MOSLEY -- read once and  referred
          to  the  Committee on Judiciary -- committee discharged, bill amended,
          ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
        AN ACT to amend the general obligations law, in relation to  independent
          consideration required for certain provisions in settlement agreements
          and  violations  of  nondisclosure  agreements  in  certain settlement
          agreements
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1.  The  general  obligations  law is amended by adding a new
     2  section 5-1117 to read as follows:
     3    § 5-1117. Independent consideration  required  for  settlement  agree-
     4  ments.  Independent  consideration  shall be required for each confiden-
     5  tiality provision included in a settlement agreement. For  the  purposes
     6  of  this  section,  "independent  consideration" shall mean something of
     7  value, either a promise, an act or an object that is offered in exchange
     8  for each confidentiality provision.
     9    § 2. Section 5-336 of the general obligations law, as added by section
    10  1 of subpart D of part KK of chapter 57 of the laws of 2018, is  amended
    11  to read as follows:
    12    §  5-336.  Nondisclosure agreements. (a) Notwithstanding any other law
    13  to the contrary, no employer, its officers or employees shall  have  the
    14  authority to include or agree to include in any settlement, agreement or
    15  other resolution of any claim, the factual foundation for which involves
    16  sexual  harassment, any term or condition that would prevent the disclo-
    17  sure of the underlying facts and circumstances to the  claim  or  action
    18  unless the condition of confidentiality is the complainant's preference.
    19  Any  such  term  or  condition  must be provided to all parties, and the
    20  complainant shall have twenty-one days to consider such term  or  condi-
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01543-03-9
        A. 849--A                           2
     1  tion.   If   after  twenty-one  days  such  term  or  condition  is  the
     2  complainant's preference, such preference shall be  memorialized  in  an
     3  agreement  signed  by  all  parties. For a period of at least seven days
     4  following  the  execution  of such agreement, the complainant may revoke
     5  the agreement, and the  agreement  shall  not  become  effective  or  be
     6  enforceable until such revocation period has expired.
     7    (b)  Notwithstanding  any  other  law to the contrary, no person shall
     8  have the authority to include or agree to  include  in  any  settlement,
     9  agreement  or  other resolution of any claim, the factual foundation for
    10  which involves sexual harassment or any  other  form  of  discrimination
    11  prohibited  by  law, any term or condition that requires the complainant
    12  to pay the defendant liquidated damages in the event that the  plaintiff
    13  violates  a  nondisclosure agreement included in such settlement, agree-
    14  ment, or other resolution of a claim.
    15    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.