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.
