Bill Text: NY A10838 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Declares agreements exempting employers from liability for negligence related to the COVID-19 pandemic void and unenforceable.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-07-20 - referred to judiciary [A10838 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A10838-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10838

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      July 20, 2020
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Braunstein)
          -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary

        AN ACT to amend the general obligations law, in  relation  to  declaring
          agreements  exempting  employers from liability for negligence related
          to the COVID-19 pandemic void and unenforceable

          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 5-322.4 to read as follows:
     3    § 5-322.4. Agreements exempting employers from  liability  for  negli-
     4  gence  related  to  the COVID-19 pandemic void and unenforceable. 1. Any
     5  provision in any contract, agreement or understanding  relating  to  the
     6  employment, hiring or retaining of the services of any person, including
     7  but  not limited to employees, independent contractors and interns, that
     8  exempts the employer or hiring party  from  liability  for  damages  for
     9  personal  injury  or  death  caused  by or resulting from the employer's
    10  negligence in connection with the employer's or hiring party's  handling
    11  of  measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic shall be deemed to be void
    12  as against public policy and wholly unenforceable.
    13    2. The provisions of this section shall not preclude  an  employer  or
    14  hiring  party  from requiring indemnification for damages arising out of
    15  personal injury or death caused by or resulting from the negligence of a
    16  party other than the employee, independent contractor and intern, wheth-
    17  er or not the employer or hiring party is partially negligent.
    18    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.




         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD16725-01-0
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