NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A501
SPONSOR: Rozic TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to extending the statute
of limitations for claims resulting from unlawful discriminatory prac-
tices to three years
PURPOSE:
This bill would extend the administrative statute of limitations for any
unlawful discrimination practice from one year to three years.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill amends Section 297 ("Procedure") of Article 15 of
the Executive Law ("Human Rights Law") to extend the statute of limita-
tions for filing complaints about any alleged unlawful discriminatory
practices to the New York State Division of Human Rights (DHR) from one
year to three years, consistent with the current statute of limitations
for administration complaints to DHR alleging sexual harassment in
employment.
JUSTIFICATION:
The time frame within which victims of unlawful discriminatory practices
must file administrative complaints with the Division of Human Rights to
trigger an investigation is insufficiently short as compared to the
amount of time it may take for a victim to come to teens with their
harassment. Recognizing this, the Legislature in 2019 increased the
statute of limitations from one to three years for unlawful discrimina-
tory practices that constituted sexual harassment in employment.
This bill would raise the statute of limitations for all administrative
unlawful discriminatory practice complaints to three years, consistent
with the current law for unlawful discriminatory practices that consti-
tute sexual harassment in employment.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2022: A8053 (Rozic) - Codes
2021: A8053 (Rozic) - Codes
2020: S2378 (Hoylman) - Died in Investigations and Government Operations
2019: S2378 (Hoylman) - Died in Investigations and Government Operations
2018: A10776 (Rozic) - Died in Governmental Operations
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Undetermined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
501
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 9, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ROZIC -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Codes
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to extending the statute
of limitations for claims resulting from unlawful discriminatory prac-
tices to three years
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 5 of section 297 of the executive law, as
2 amended by chapter 160 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 5. Any complaint filed pursuant to this section must be so filed with-
5 in [one year] three years after the alleged unlawful discriminatory
6 practice. [In cases of sexual harassment in employment, any complaint
7 filed pursuant to this section must be so filed within three years after
8 the alleged unlawful discriminatory practices.]
9 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
10 have become a law and shall apply to all unlawful discriminatory prac-
11 tice claims arising on or after such effective date.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02756-01-3
