Bill Text: NY A10656 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Prohibits certain actions which negatively impact the conduct of business, trade, or commerce or furnishing of services in the state and prohibits practices that force arbitration of future antitrust, consumer, civil rights, and employment disputes that interfere with the right of individuals, workers, and small businesses to participate in joint, class, or collective actions.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-06-17 - referred to corporations, authorities and commissions [A10656 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A10656-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10656

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      June 17, 2020
                                       ___________

        Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Kim) -- read
          once  and  referred  to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and
          Commissions

        AN ACT to amend the general business law,  in  relation  to  prohibiting
          certain  actions  which  negatively  impact  the  conduct of business,
          trade, or commerce or furnishing of services  in  the  state;  and  to
          amend  the  civil  practice  law and rules, in relation to prohibiting
          agreements that force arbitration of certain future antitrust, consum-
          er, civil rights, and employment disputes

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

     1    Section  1.  Section  340  of  the  general business law is amended by
     2  adding three new subdivisions 7, 8, and 9 to read as follows:
     3    7. Any abuse by one or more persons of  a  dominant  position  in  the
     4  conduct of any business, trade, or commerce, or in the furnishing of any
     5  service  in  this  state is hereby declared to be against public policy,
     6  illegal, and void. Such abuse may consist of, but shall not  be  limited
     7  to:
     8    (a)  directly or indirectly imposing unfair purchase or selling prices
     9  or other unfair trading conditions;
    10    (b) limiting production, markets,  or  technical  development  to  the
    11  prejudice of consumers;
    12    (c)  applying  dissimilar  conditions  to equivalent transactions with
    13  other trading parties, thereby placing them at a  competitive  disadvan-
    14  tage;
    15    (d)  making  the  conclusion  or effectiveness of contracts subject to
    16  acceptance by the other parties of supplementary obligations  which,  by
    17  their  nature  or according to commercial usage, have no connection with
    18  the subject of such contracts;
    19    (e) refusing to deal with customers or rivals as a means of  suppress-
    20  ing competition;
    21    (f) prohibiting distributors, suppliers, or customers from doing busi-
    22  ness with rival firms;

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD16045-01-0

        A. 10656                            2

     1    (g)  penalizing  purchasers  who  do  not place a large share of their
     2  business with the firm;
     3    (h)  tying  the purchase of one good or service with the purchase of a
     4  separate good or service, whether done through contractual or technolog-
     5  ical means; and
     6    (i) pricing below average variable cost.
     7    8. Subdivision seven of this section shall be construed independent of
     8  existing law or judicial or administrative authority relating  to  mono-
     9  polization  under  subdivision  one  of  this  section, section 2 of the
    10  federal Sherman Act, or comparable provisions of federal law or the laws
    11  of other states. No  showing  of  harm  to  consumer  welfare  shall  be
    12  required  to  sustain  a  claim  pursuant  to  subdivision seven of this
    13  section.
    14    9. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any action  under  this
    15  section  may be maintained as a class action to the extent authorized by
    16  article nine of the civil practice law and rules or by Rule  23  of  the
    17  Federal  Rules  of Civil Procedure or the class action procedures of any
    18  other state.
    19    § 2. The general business law is amended by adding a new section  352-
    20  dd to read as follows:
    21    §  352-dd.  Acquisition  by one corporation of stock of another. 1. No
    22  person engaged in commerce or in any activity affecting  commerce  shall
    23  acquire,  directly  or indirectly, the whole or any part of the stock or
    24  other share capital, and no person shall acquire the whole or  any  part
    25  of  the  assets  of  another  person  also engaged in commerce or in any
    26  activity affecting commerce, where in any line of  commerce  or  in  any
    27  activity affecting commerce in any section of the country, the effect of
    28  such  acquisition may substantially lessen competition or tend to create
    29  a monopoly.
    30    2. No person shall acquire, directly or indirectly, the whole  or  any
    31  part  of  the  stock or other share capital, and no person shall acquire
    32  the whole or any part of the assets of one or more  persons  engaged  in
    33  commerce  or  in  any  activity affecting commerce, where in any line of
    34  commerce or in any activity affecting commerce in  any  section  of  the
    35  country,  the effect of such acquisition of such stocks or assets, or of
    36  the use of such stock by the voting or granting of proxies or otherwise,
    37  may substantially lessen competition, or tend to create a monopoly.
    38    3. In any action arising under this section, the burden  shall  be  on
    39  the  persons  seeking to undertake the transaction to prove by a prepon-
    40  derance of the evidence that the pro-competitive benefits of the  trans-
    41  action, if any, outweigh the anticompetitive effects.
    42    §  3.  Section 7501 of the civil practice law and rules, as amended by
    43  chapter 532 of the laws of 1963, is amended to read as follows:
    44    § 7501. Effect of arbitration agreement. [A] 1. Except  as  set  forth
    45  below,  a written agreement to submit any controversy thereafter arising
    46  or any existing controversy to arbitration is enforceable without regard
    47  to the justiciable character of the controversy and confers jurisdiction
    48  on the courts of the state to enforce it and to  enter  judgment  on  an
    49  award.  In  determining any matter arising under this article, the court
    50  shall not consider whether the claim with respect to  which  arbitration
    51  is sought is tenable, or otherwise pass upon the merits of the dispute.
    52    2.  Notwithstanding  any  other provision of law, no pre-dispute arbi-
    53  tration agreement or pre-dispute joint-action waiver shall be  valid  or
    54  enforceable  with  respect  to  an  antitrust dispute, consumer dispute,
    55  civil rights dispute, or employment dispute.
    56    3. For the purposes of this section:

        A. 10656                            3

     1    (a) The term "antitrust dispute"  means  a  dispute  arising  from  an
     2  alleged violation of the antitrust laws (as defined in subsection (a) of
     3  the first section of the federal Clayton Act) or state antitrust laws.
     4    (b) The term "consumer dispute" means a dispute between:
     5    (i) one or more individuals who seek or acquire real or personal prop-
     6  erty, services (including services related to digital technology), secu-
     7  rities  or  other investments, money, or credit for personal, family, or
     8  household purposes; and
     9    (ii) the seller or provider of such property, services, securities  or
    10  other  investments,  money,  or credit, or a third party involved in the
    11  selling, providing of, payment for, receipt or use of information about,
    12  or other relationship to any  such  property,  services,  securities  or
    13  other investments, money, or credit.
    14    (c)  The term "civil rights dispute" means a dispute in which at least
    15  one individual (or their authorized representatives) alleges a violation
    16  of:
    17    (i) the constitution of the United States or  the  constitution  of  a
    18  state; or
    19    (ii) any federal, state, or local law that prohibits discrimination on
    20  the  basis of race, sex, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, disa-
    21  bility, religion, national origin, or any legally  protected  status  in
    22  education, employment, credit, housing, public accommodations and facil-
    23  ities,  voting,  veterans  or service members, health care, or a program
    24  funded or conducted by the federal government  or  a  state  government,
    25  including  any  law  referred  to  or  described in section 62(e) of the
    26  Internal Revenue Code of 1986, including parts of such law not explicit-
    27  ly referenced in such section but that relate to protecting  individuals
    28  on any such basis.
    29    (d)  The term "employment dispute" means a dispute between one or more
    30  individuals (or their authorized representative) and  a  person  arising
    31  out of or related to the work relationship or prospective work relation-
    32  ship between them, including a dispute regarding the terms of or payment
    33  for,  advertising  of,  recruiting  for, referring of, arranging for, or
    34  discipline or discharge in connection with,  such  work,  regardless  of
    35  whether  the  individual  is or would be classified as an employee or an
    36  independent contractor with respect to such work, and including disputes
    37  arising under any law referred to or described in section 62(e)  of  the
    38  Internal Revenue Code of 1986, including parts of such law not explicit-
    39  ly  referenced in such section but that relate to protecting individuals
    40  on any such basis.
    41    (e) The term "pre-dispute arbitration agreement" means an agreement to
    42  arbitrate a dispute that has not yet arisen at the time of the making of
    43  the agreement.
    44    (f) The term "pre-dispute joint-action  waiver"  means  an  agreement,
    45  whether  or  not part of a pre-dispute arbitration agreement, that would
    46  prohibit or waive the right of one of the parties to  the  agreement  to
    47  commence  or  otherwise  participate  in  a  joint, class, or collective
    48  action in a judicial, arbitral, administrative, or other forum, concern-
    49  ing a dispute that has not yet arisen at the time of the making  of  the
    50  agreement.
    51    4.  An  issue  as  to  whether  this chapter applies with respect to a
    52  dispute shall be determined under the laws of  the  state  of  New  York
    53  without  regard  for choice of law principles. The applicability of this
    54  section to an agreement to arbitrate, and the validity and enforceabili-
    55  ty of an agreement to which this section applies, shall be determined by
    56  a court, rather than an arbitrator, irrespective of  whether  the  party

        A. 10656                            4

     1  seeking  or  resisting  arbitration challenges the arbitration agreement
     2  specifically, or  in  conjunction  with  other  terms  of  the  contract
     3  containing  such  agreement,  and  irrespective of whether the agreement
     4  purports to delegate such determination to an arbitrator.
     5    5. Nothing in this section shall apply to any arbitration provision in
     6  a contract between an employer and a labor organization or between labor
     7  organizations,  except that no such arbitration provision shall have the
     8  effect of waiving the right of a worker to seek judicial enforcement  of
     9  a right arising from:
    10    (a)  any  provision  of  the  constitution  of  the United States, the
    11  constitution of the state of New York, or any other state  constitution;
    12  or
    13    (b) any federal or state statute, or policy arising therefrom.
    14    §  4.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall apply to any
    15  action or proceeding pending on or after such date.
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