New York City Human Rights Law

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Back in 2015, New York City joined the “Ban the Box” bandwagon and passed a law that delays when criminal background checks can be run on most Big Apple job applicants. Specifically, the Fair Chance Act (FCA) prohibits NYC employers from inquiring about a job applicant’s criminal conviction history until after a conditional offer of employment is extended and requires that employers undertake a multi-step process if they want to rescind a job offer based on the results of a criminal history inquiry.

Against this backdrop, on January 10, 2021, the New York City Council passed important amendments to the FCA, which amendments went into effect July 29, 2021. As detailed below, the amendments significantly expand the scope of the FCA and impose additional affirmative obligations on New York City employers.
Continue Reading Sweeping amendments to New York City’s “Ban the Box” law are now in effect

This week, the New York City Council passed new amendments to the New York City Human Rights Law, which prohibit employment discrimination, discriminatory harassment and violence on the basis of an individual’s sexual and reproductive health decisions. A copy of the new, amended law can be found here.

The amended law defines “sexual and reproductive health decisions” as any decision by an individual to receive services, which are arranged for, or offered or provided to individuals, relating to their sexual and reproductive health, including the reproductive system and its functions.…

Continue Reading NYC Council enacts new protections for employees’ sexual and reproductive health decisions

Mark Goldstein contributed to the content of this post.

On the heels of a potentially pivotal ruling that unpaid interns cannot assert claims of discrimination and harassment, one New York State senator has introduced reactionary legislation that would effectively nullify the decision and open the floodgates to employment discrimination claims from a class of workers that is not actually employed.…

Continue Reading New York Legislature Introduces Legislation Intended to Curtail Discrimination, Bolster Protections for Unpaid Interns