Bill Text: NY A03643 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Mandates the disclosure of discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual assault settlements to the civil rights bureau of the attorney general's office.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 23-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to codes [A03643 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A03643-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         3643--A

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 30, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. SIMOTAS, QUART, PAULIN, SEAWRIGHT, M. G. MILLER,
          LENTOL, GOTTFRIED, THIELE, CRUZ, STIRPE, SIMON, ZEBROWSKI, CYMBROWITZ,
          STERN,  GLICK,  FERNANDEZ,  MAGNARELLI,  EPSTEIN,  BRAUNSTEIN,  GALEF,
          MOSLEY  -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes -- commit-
          tee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and  recom-
          mitted to said committee

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the civil practice law and rules, in relation to the
          disclosure of certain settlements to the civil rights  bureau  of  the
          attorney general's office

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The civil practice law and rules is amended by adding a new
     2  section 5003-c to read as follows:
     3    § 5003-c. Settlements related to discrimination, sexual harassment  or
     4  sexual assault. 1. An individual or institution settling a claim related
     5  to  allegations  of  discrimination, sexual harassment or sexual assault
     6  shall disclose records of the settlement to the civil rights  bureau  of
     7  the  attorney  general's office for the purposes of identifying evidence
     8  of repeated or persistent unlawful discrimination. For the  purposes  of
     9  this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
    10    a.  "Claim"  shall  include  any  legal  cause  of action or complaint
    11  reported to an individual's employer or filed with a federal, state,  or
    12  local agency.
    13    b.  "Records"  shall  mean  any and all written agreements resolving a
    14  claim and any and all written complaints or written reports of the alle-
    15  gations.
    16    c. "Discrimination" shall mean any discriminatory act prohibited under
    17  the civil rights law, article fifteen of the executive law or applicable
    18  federal or local anti-discrimination laws.
    19    d. "Sexual harassment" shall mean unwelcome sexual advances,  requests
    20  for  sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct on the basis of

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05652-02-9

        A. 3643--A                          2

     1  an individual's  gender  or  perceived  gender  when  submission  to  or
     2  rejection of such conduct, explicitly or implicitly, affects an individ-
     3  ual's  employment,  unreasonably  interferes  with  an individual's work
     4  performance  or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work envi-
     5  ronment without regard to actual economic injury to or discharge of  the
     6  individual.
     7    e. "Sexual assault" shall mean unwanted sexual contact.
     8    2. A claimant entering a settlement related to allegations of discrim-
     9  ination,  sexual  harassment  or sexual assault shall be provided with a
    10  document describing their rights issued by the attorney general's office
    11  and offered the option to request that the civil rights  bureau  contact
    12  them about their claim.
    13    3.  The  attorney general's office shall maintain confidential records
    14  of all information disclosed under this section.
    15    4. Records shall be safeguarded from coming to the  knowledge  of  and
    16  from  inspection  or  examination  by any person other than the attorney
    17  general or other designated officials in the bureau for the  performance
    18  of  their official duties. Authorized persons shall not divulge informa-
    19  tion contained therein without  the  written  consent  of  the  attorney
    20  general.    The  authorized disclosure of any such information shall not
    21  contain any individually identifiable information for a settling  plain-
    22  tiff.
    23    5. An individual or institution which fails to comply with subdivision
    24  one  or two of this section shall after notice of said failure served by
    25  the attorney general by certified mail,  return  receipt  requested,  be
    26  liable  to  the  state of New York for a fine not to exceed one thousand
    27  dollars for each failure to comply after the expiration  of  the  thirty
    28  day  period following the receipt of the notice from the attorney gener-
    29  al, except that the time to comply  may  be  extended  by  the  attorney
    30  general.  Where  the  attorney general, after such thirty day period has
    31  expired, finds that the failure to comply with subdivision one or two of
    32  this section is due to excusable  ignorance  or  inadvertence  or  other
    33  reasonable  cause,  the attorney general shall waive the fine imposed by
    34  this subdivision.
    35    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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