Bill Text: NY S04427 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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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 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO JUDICIARY [S04427 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S04427-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          4427

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    February 8, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced by Sen. FERNANDEZ -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary

        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. All settlements related to allegations of discrimi-
     5  nation, sexual harassment or sexual assault shall be  disclosed  to  the
     6  civil rights bureau of the attorney general's office for the purposes of
     7  identifying  evidence  of  patterns  of unlawful discrimination. For the
     8  purposes of this section, the following terms shall have  the  following
     9  meanings:
    10    a. "Discrimination" shall mean any discriminatory act prohibited under
    11  the  civil  rights  law,  the  human rights law or applicable federal or
    12  local anti-discrimination laws.
    13    b. "Sexual harassment" shall mean unwelcome sexual advances,  requests
    14  for  sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct on the basis of
    15  an individual's  gender  or  perceived  gender  when  submission  to  or
    16  rejection of such conduct, explicitly or implicitly, affects an individ-
    17  ual's  employment,  unreasonably  interferes  with  an individual's work
    18  performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work  envi-
    19  ronment  without regard to actual economic injury to or discharge of the
    20  individual.
    21    c. "Sexual assault" shall mean unwanted sexual contact.
    22    2. The attorney general's office shall maintain  confidential  records
    23  of  all  information  disclosed  under  this section and investigate any
    24  individual or institution that has entered into three  or  more  settle-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08772-01-3
        S. 4427                             2

     1  ments  related  to  discrimination,  sexual harassment or sexual assault
     2  claims.
     3    3.  Records  shall  be safeguarded from coming to the knowledge of and
     4  from inspection or examination by any person  other  than  the  attorney
     5  general  or other designated officials in the bureau for the performance
     6  of their official duties. Authorized persons shall not divulge  informa-
     7  tion  contained  therein  without  the  written  consent of the attorney
     8  general.  The authorized disclosure of any such  information  shall  not
     9  contain  any individually identifiable information for a settling plain-
    10  tiff.
    11    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.