Bill Text: NY S04129 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Awards attorney's fees and expert witness fees in appropriate cases.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-11 - PRINT NUMBER 4129A [S04129 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S04129-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Awards attorney's fees and expert witness fees in appropriate cases.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-11 - PRINT NUMBER 4129A [S04129 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S04129-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4129 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE March 1, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. BIAGGI -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Govern- ment Operations AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to providing for the award of attorney's fees and expert witness fees in appropriate cases The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 10 of section 297 of the executive law, as 2 amended by chapter 364 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 10. [With respect to all cases of housing discrimination and housing5related credit discrimination in] In an action or proceeding at law 6 under this section or section two hundred ninety-eight of this article, 7 the commissioner or the court may in its discretion award reasonable 8 attorney's fees to any prevailing or substantially prevailing party; and 9 with respect to a claim of employment or credit discrimination where sex 10 is a basis of such discrimination, in an action or proceeding at law 11 under this section or section two hundred ninety-eight of this article, 12 the commissioner or the court may in its discretion award reasonable 13 attorney's fees attributable to such claim to any prevailing party; 14 provided, however, that a prevailing respondent or defendant in order to 15 recover such reasonable attorney's fees must make a motion requesting 16 such fees and show that the action or proceeding brought was frivolous; 17 and further provided that in a proceeding brought in the division of 18 human rights, the commissioner may only award attorney's fees as part of 19 a final order after a public hearing held pursuant to subdivision four 20 of this section. In no case shall attorney's fees be awarded to the 21 division, nor shall the division be liable to a prevailing or substan- 22 tially prevailing party for attorney's fees, except in a case in which 23 the division is a party to the action or the proceeding in the divi- 24 sion's capacity as an employer. Expert witness fees may be awarded in EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01176-01-9S. 4129 2 1 the same manner as attorney's fees. In cases of employment discrimi- 2 nation, a respondent shall only be liable for attorney's fees under this 3 subdivision if the respondent has been found liable for having committed 4 an unlawful discriminatory practice. In order to find the action or 5 proceeding to be frivolous, the court or the commissioner must find in 6 writing one or more of the following: 7 (a) the action or proceeding was commenced, used or continued in bad 8 faith, solely to delay or prolong the resolution of the litigation or to 9 harass or maliciously injure another; or 10 (b) the action or proceeding was commenced or continued in bad faith 11 without any reasonable basis and could not be supported by a good faith 12 argument for an extension, modification or reversal of existing law. If 13 the action or proceeding was promptly discontinued when the party or 14 attorney learned or should have learned that the action or proceeding 15 lacked such a reasonable basis, the court may find that the party or the 16 attorney did not act in bad faith. 17 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 18 have become a law.