In an effort to ensure women have equal rights in all aspects of their lives, New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr., (I, D, WF-Sag Harbor) announced he helped the Assembly pass the Women’s Equality Act (WEA) for the second time (A.8070). This vital piece of legislation, introduced by the Governor, still awaits action by the state Senate.

The act contains 10 reforms to bring fairness to the women of New York, some of which include equal pay for equal work, putting an end to employment discrimination, increasing protections for victims of domestic violence and strengthening women’s health and reproductive rights. The reforms are necessary measures to provide greater equality to women and are widely supported by the people of New York.

Protecting a woman’s right to make decisions about her own health

The WEA provides greater protection for a woman’s right to make decisions about her own well-being. Currently, New York State’s law that protects women’s reproductive rights is outdated and doesn’t comply with the stronger federal law, because New York led the nation in 1970 and passed abortion rights prior to the transformational U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. This legislation would bring parity to New York State and federal laws, ensuring a woman’s right to obtain an abortion prior to 24 weeks, or when necessary to protect her life or health. Should federal law ever be overturned, this legislation would guarantee reproductive rights to women in New York State.

Achieving pay equity

Women in New York earn 84 cents for every dollar men earn, creating a substantial yearly pay gap of roughly $8,275 between men and women working full time in New York State. Minority women fare even worse, with African-American women earning 64 cents and Latinas earning just 55 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men nationally.¹

The legislation eliminates the ability of employers to justify pay disparities based on gender and instead requires that their pay decisions be based on legitimate reasons. In addition, the legislation protects an employee’s right to share wage information with other employees without being retaliated against and increases damages to successful plaintiffs in pay equity discrimination cases.

“Paying women less than men for comparable work is unfair and unacceptable,” Thiele said. “Equal pay for equal work is common sense, and state law should reflect that.”

Stopping sexual harassment in the workplace

Currently, New York State law only prohibits sexual harassment in workplaces with four or more employees. This legislation will protect all employees by banning sexual harassment in every workplace, regardless of the number of employees.

Strengthening human trafficking laws

The WEA creates the “Trafficking Victims Protection and Justice Act,” which will strengthen New York’s existing human trafficking laws by:

• increasing the penalties for sex and labor trafficking;
• increasing penalties for promoting or patronizing a person in prostitution;
• eliminating the requirement that coercion be proven in a sex-trafficking prosecution when the victim of sex trafficking is a minor;
• creating an affirmative defense in prostitution prosecutions if the defendant was herself a sex-trafficking victim;
• expanding opportunities for referral to services and allowing victims to recover damages from individuals who profited from trafficking activity; and
• extending the Interagency Task Force on Human Trafficking for four years.

Ending housing discrimination for domestic violence victims

The legislation prohibits landlords from discriminating against victims of domestic violence. Currently, domestic violence victims are not protected from housing discrimination, allowing landlords to reject those most in need of housing. Landlords found guilty of this discrimination would face up to a $2,000 fine.

Ending family status discrimination

The 10-point Women’s Equality Act prohibits employers from denying work or promotions to employees simply because they have children. Currently, New York State law only prohibits discrimination based on family status in areas of housing and credit.

Stopping pregnancy discrimination once and for all

The 10-point WEA creates a specific protection that requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant employees.

Helping victims recover legal fees

The legislation allows successful plaintiffs who have been victimized based on their gender to recover attorney fees in employment or credit discrimination cases. This will enable victims, most of whom are women, to have the opportunity to vindicate their rights and be compensated for their legal costs in cases where they prevail. Currently, plaintiffs cannot recover attorney fees at trial for employment discrimination cases, making it costly to bring a case.

Stopping source-of-income discrimination

Currently, many landlords refuse to rent to Section 8 or other public housing assistance recipients. This legislation creates a task force to study the impact of source-of-income discrimination on access to housing. The task force will review the Section 8 Housing Program in order to improve access to quality and affordable housing and must submit its report and recommendations by Jan. 15, 2015.

1. http://go.nationalpartnership.org/site/DocServer/Wage_Gap_ny.pdf