NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4898
SPONSOR: Clark TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to prohibiting retali-
ation against individuals who request a reasonable accommodation
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one of this bill names it the Reasonable Accommodation Anti-Re-
taliation Act.
Section two declares legislative intent.
Section three amends subdivision 7 of section 296 of the Executive Law
to provide that it shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice to
retaliate against an individual for requesting reasonable accommodation.
Section four sets the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
The New York State Human Rights Law, contained in Article 15 of the
Executive Law, provides a number of important protections for New York-
ers, such as a bar against discrimination based on a protected class
status or for complaining of discrimination or assisting in a related
investigation. Victims of illegal discrimination have several forms of
recourse, including the ability to file a complaint within the Division
of Human Rights, (DHR) or a civil action in state court within three
years.
The Human Rights Law also requires reasonable accommodations in sites
such as the workplace, housing, and in certain public settings such as
health clinics, hospitals, restaurants, government buildings, retail
stores, and more. In such places it is a violation under the Human
Rights Law to deny a request for an accommodation based on disability
(Executive Law § 296(3)(6), (2-a)(d), (14),(10), pregnancy-related
condition (Executive Law § 296(3)(a)), religious observances (Executive
Law § 296(10)), or domestic violence victim status (Executive Law §
296(22)(6)(1)). While it naturally follows that it must also be unlawful
to retaliate against an individual who requests an accommodation, this
protection is not explicitly stated in our state's Human Rights Law
despite being an important element of both federal and New York City
anti-discrimination laws (42 USC § 12203(b); 42 USC § 2000gg-1; NYCAC §
8-107(7)). This has created a perverse situation in which, for example,
an employee must be granted an accommodation in the workplace, but an
employer claims they can legally be fired for asking for it in the first
place.
This bill closes this loophole in our state's Human Rights Law by clari-
fying that its anti-retaliation provisions extend to individuals
requesting reasonable accommodations in addition to those who complain
of discriminatory practices. It aligns our state Human Rights Law with
its federal and city counterparts while better achieving the original
intent of the legislature to ensure that all individuals making requests
for accommodations at the job site, in housing, or in places of public
accommodation are protected against retaliation from making such
requests.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24: A.10002 (Wallace)
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and apply to all actions filed on
or after the effective date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4898
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 10, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CLARK -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to prohibiting retali-
ation against individuals who request a reasonable accommodation
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "reasonable accommodation anti-retaliation act".
3 § 2. Legislative findings. The legislature finds and declares that
4 reasonable accommodations are an essential feature of the anti-discrimi-
5 nation provisions of the executive law, including but not limited to,
6 subdivisions 2, 2-a, 3, 10, 14, 18, and 22 of section 296 of the execu-
7 tive law.
8 The legislature further finds and declares that explicit anti-retalia-
9 tion protections for accommodation requests will help ensure that indi-
10 viduals maintain full access to the rights, protections, and remedies
11 available under the anti-discrimination provisions of the executive law.
12 The amendments in this act are declarative of and clarify existing
13 law. This act shall not be construed to mean that the executive law
14 does not already prohibit retaliation for requesting a reasonable accom-
15 modation.
16 § 3. Subdivision 7 of section 296 of the executive law, as amended by
17 chapter 140 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as follows:
18 7. It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for any person
19 engaged in any activity to which this section applies to retaliate or
20 discriminate against any person because [he or she] such person has (i)
21 opposed any practices forbidden under this article [or because he or she
22 has], (ii) filed a complaint, testified, or assisted in any proceeding
23 under this article, or (iii) requested a reasonable accommodation under
24 this article. Retaliation may include, but is not limited to, disclos-
25 ing an employee's personnel files because [he or she] such employee has
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07392-01-5
A. 4898 2
1 (i) opposed any practices forbidden under this article [or because he or
2 she has], (ii) filed a complaint, testified, or assisted in any proceed-
3 ing under this article, or (iii) requested a reasonable accommodation
4 under this article, except where such disclosure is made in the course
5 of commencing or responding to a complaint in any proceeding under this
6 article or any other civil or criminal action or other judicial or
7 administrative proceeding as permitted by applicable law.
8 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all
9 actions filed on or after the effective date.
